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Full-Text Articles in Jurisprudence

The Declaration Of Independence And Constitutional Interpretation, Alexander Tsesis Jun 2019

The Declaration Of Independence And Constitutional Interpretation, Alexander Tsesis

Alexander Tsesis

This Article argues that the Reconstruction Amendments incorporated the human dignity values of the Declaration of Independence. The original Constitution contained clauses, which protected the institution of slavery, that were irreconcilable with the normative commitments the nation had undertaken at independence. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments set the country aright by formally incorporating the Declaration of Independence's principles for representative governance into the Constitution.

The Declaration of Independence provides valuable insights into matters of human dignity, privacy, and self-government. Its statements about human rights, equality, and popular sovereignty establish a foundational rule of interpretation. While the Supreme Court has …


Construction, Originalist Interpretation And The Complete Constitution, Richard Kay Dec 2016

Construction, Originalist Interpretation And The Complete Constitution, Richard Kay

Richard Kay

 In recent years, the literature of constitutional originalism has adopted a new concept, “constitutional construction.” This Essay critically examines that concept. Contrary to some claims, the difference between “interpretation” and “construction” is not well established in common law adjudication. Furthermore, contemporary descriptions of constitutional construction tend to leave some ill-defined discretion in the hands of constitutional decision-makers. Finally, the Essay disputes the claim that constitutional construction is indispensable because the constitutional text is incomplete, that failing to provide a decision-rule for many—indeed for most—constitutional disputes. The Constitution would indeed be incomplete if interpreted according to the “new” or “public …


Constitutional Change And Wade's Ultimate Political Fact, Richard Kay Dec 2015

Constitutional Change And Wade's Ultimate Political Fact, Richard Kay

Richard Kay

This is a retrospective review of H.W.R. Wades classic article on parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom, The Basis of Legal Sovereignty, published in 1955. I discuss the legal background against which the essay was written and particularly the South African case of Harris v. Minister of the Interior that was the centerpiece of Wade’s analysis. I survey Wade’s differences with Ivor Jennings, the leading figure among the then active academic defenders of Parliament’s power to impose “manner and form” limitations on future parliaments. I also compare Wade’s identification of an “ultimate political fact” supporting the legal system with Hans …


The Gravitational Force Of Federal Law, Scott Dodson Dec 2015

The Gravitational Force Of Federal Law, Scott Dodson

Scott Dodson

In the American system of dual sovereignty, states have primary authority over matters of state law. In nonpreemptive areas in which state and federal regimes are parallel—such as matters of court procedure, certain statutory law, and even some constitutional law—states have full authority to legislate and interpret state law in ways that diverge from analogous federal law. But, in large measure, they don’t. It is as if federal law exerts a gravitational force that draws states to mimic federal law even when federal law does not require state conformity. This paper is the first to explore the widespread phenomenon of …


On The Conceptual Confusions Of Jurisprudence, Aaron Rappaport Dec 2013

On The Conceptual Confusions Of Jurisprudence, Aaron Rappaport

Aaron Rappaport

For more than half a century, legal theorists have tried to identify and describe the concept of law, employing a method called “conceptual analysis” to pursue this goal. Yet the details of that methodology remain obscure, its merits largely accepted without careful analysis. A reassessment is long past due. This paper offers the first comprehensive survey of the way conceptual analysis has been used in legal theory. The paper identifies four different forms of conceptual analysis – the empirical, intuitive, categorical and contingent methods of analysis. After clarifying the core assumptions of each approach, the paper evaluates whether any of …


A Tragédia Do Judiciário: Subinvestimento Em Capital Jurídico E Sobreutilização Do Judiciário, Ivo T. Gico Jr. Oct 2012

A Tragédia Do Judiciário: Subinvestimento Em Capital Jurídico E Sobreutilização Do Judiciário, Ivo T. Gico Jr.

Ivo Teixeira Gico Jr.

Esta tese explora o subinvestimento em capital jurídico como uma explicação para o problema de congestionamento dos tribunais brasileiros. A análise indica que os magistrados brasileiros não possuem incentivos e mecanismos suficientes para investir em capital jurídico e uniformizar regras jurídicas. A insegurança jurídica resultante, combinada com o livre acesso ao serviço publico adjudicatório constitucionalmente garantindo, gera incentivos para a sobreutilização dos tribunais, resultando no problema endêmico de congestionamento, a Tragédia do Judiciário. O congestionamento atrai litigantes que desejam postergar suas obrigações pelo sistema judicial, enquanto litigantes legítimos são excluídos, um problema trágico de seleção adversa.


Zizek/Questions/Failing, Nick J. Sciullo Dec 2010

Zizek/Questions/Failing, Nick J. Sciullo

Nick J. Sciullo

In this article I am primarily concerned with presenting Slavoj Žižek3 as a legal theorist. Žižek has been a valuable contributor to critical theory and deserves a place in the pantheon of legal thinkers.

While his diverse writings are often relegated to other disciplines, they also position him as an important contributor to law and public discourse. I seek to illuminate how he mediates and interrogates the law by demonstrating how his scholarship is important to the lives of legal thinkers, questions of success and the law, capitalism, political practice, and terrorism. Because Žižek’s work is interdisciplinary and expansive, this …


Metodologia E Epistemologia Da Análise Econômica Do Direito, Ivo T. Gico Jr. Feb 2010

Metodologia E Epistemologia Da Análise Econômica Do Direito, Ivo T. Gico Jr.

Ivo Teixeira Gico Jr.

Trata-se de uma contextualização da Análise Econômica do Direito – AED dentro da epistemologia jurídica em um contexto civilista. A partir de uma revisão dos paradigmas dominantes no direito brasileiro, contextualiza-se histórica e epistemologicamente a abordagem da AED. O objetivo é oferecer uma primeira abordagem por juristas e economistas, ressaltando algumas utilidades e limitações para ambos os campos. Uma vez contextualizada a AED no direito, alguns pontos não exaustivos da metodologia econômica e, portanto, da própria AED, são apresentados e analisados em termos de compatibilidade com os paradigmas dominantes do direito. O resultado é uma primeira aproximação do que seja …


Our Mongrel Selves: Pluralism, Identity And The Nation, Brian Slattery Dec 2002

Our Mongrel Selves: Pluralism, Identity And The Nation, Brian Slattery

Brian Slattery

This paper examines the view that ‘nations’ are natural entities, composed of homogeneous linguistic and cultural groups, and argues that this theory fails to take account of our multiple and overlapping identities.


Three Concepts Of Law: The Ambiguous Legacy Of H.L.A. Hart, Brian Slattery Dec 1997

Three Concepts Of Law: The Ambiguous Legacy Of H.L.A. Hart, Brian Slattery

Brian Slattery

No abstract provided.


The Myth Of Retributive Justice, Brian Slattery Dec 1991

The Myth Of Retributive Justice, Brian Slattery

Brian Slattery

In fairy tales, villains usually come to a bad end, snared in a trap of their own making, or visited with a disaster nicely suited to their particular villainy. Read a story of this kind to children and you will be struck by the profound satisfaction with which this predictable of events is greeted. Yet, if children cheer when the villain is done in, they are just as satisfied when the hero manages to get the villain by the throat but takes pity and spares him. These tales of retribution and mercy, even reduced to their barest bones, seem to …