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Full-Text Articles in Jurisprudence

Feminist Jurisprudence In A Conventional Context: Is There Room For Feminism In Dworkin's Theory Of Interpretive Concepts?, Lynne Hanson Apr 1992

Feminist Jurisprudence In A Conventional Context: Is There Room For Feminism In Dworkin's Theory Of Interpretive Concepts?, Lynne Hanson

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This paper examines Dworkin's interpretive theory of law from a feminist perspective, and asks whether his attempts to accommodate competing political opinions within an interpretive community can successfully encompass feminist concerns as well. It is argued that Dworkin repeatedly underestimates the extent of disagreement regarding the practice of law as a whole, while his requirements of fit, coherence and integrity impose a political agenda on the interpreter. As a consequence, Dworkin's theory is ultimately unable to adequately respond to a feminist critique of law, so that feminist jurisprudence must be seen as falling outside the scope of his interpretive community.


Legislative Inputs And Gender-Based Discrimination In The Burger Court, Earl M. Maltz Mar 1992

Legislative Inputs And Gender-Based Discrimination In The Burger Court, Earl M. Maltz

Michigan Law Review

In An Interpretive History of Modem Equal Protection, Michael Klarman poses a powerful challenge to the conventional wisdom regarding the structure of Burger Court jurisprudence. Most commentators have concluded that during the Burger era the Court lacked a coherent vision of constitutional law, and was given to a "rootless" activism or a "pragmatic" approach to constitutional analysis. Klarman argues that, at least in the area of equal protection analysis, the Burger Court's approach did reflect a unifying theme, which he describes as a focus on "legislative inputs." According to Klarman, this approach "directs judicial review towards purging legislative decision-making of …