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Full-Text Articles in Legal History
Spandrel Or Frankenstein's Monster? The Vices And Virtues Of Retrofitting In American Law, Michael C. Dorf
Spandrel Or Frankenstein's Monster? The Vices And Virtues Of Retrofitting In American Law, Michael C. Dorf
Cornell Law Faculty Publications
Ancient mythology, literary fiction, and modern science fiction films all recount a similar cautionary tale: human ingenuity gives rise to a powerful invention, but through human fallibility and, in some tellings, venality, the invention becomes a monster and turns on its creators. Perhaps the most famous example is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, in which Dr. Frankenstein's attempt to fashion a living man from the dead remains of others succeeds, only then to go horribly awry. Such stories are timeless because they warn of the dangers of indelible features of human nature: hubris and short-sightedness. Recent large-scale catastrophes such as the 2010 …
"Our Cities Institutions" And The Institution Of The Common Law, Bernadette Meyler
"Our Cities Institutions" And The Institution Of The Common Law, Bernadette Meyler
Cornell Law Faculty Publications
The audiences of early modern English drama were multiple, and they intersected with the legal system in various ways, whether through the cross-pollination of the theaters and the Inns of Court, the representations of the sovereign’s justice performed before him, or the shared evidentiary orientations of jurors and spectators. As this piece written for a symposium on “Reasoning from Literature” contends, Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure addressed to these various audiences the question of whether the King should judge in person. In doing so, it drew on extant political theories suggesting that the King refrain from exposing himself to public censure …
Towards A Common Law Originalism, Bernadette Meyler
Towards A Common Law Originalism, Bernadette Meyler
Cornell Law Faculty Publications
Originalists' emphasis upon William Blackstone's "Commentaries on the Laws of England" tends to suggest that the common law of the Founding era consisted in a set of determinate rules that can be mined for the purposes of constitutional interpretation. This Article argues instead that disparate strands of the common law, some emanating from the colonies and others from England, some more archaic and others more innovative, co-existed at the time of the Founding. Furthermore, jurists and politicians of the Founding generation were not unaware that the common law constituted a disunified field; indeed, the jurisprudence of the common law suggested …
‘Economists’ Reasons' For Common Law Decisions - A Preliminary Inquiry, Robert S. Summers, Leigh B. Kelley
‘Economists’ Reasons' For Common Law Decisions - A Preliminary Inquiry, Robert S. Summers, Leigh B. Kelley
Cornell Law Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
Two Types Of Substantive Reasons: The Core Of A Theory Of Common-Law Justification, Robert S. Summers
Two Types Of Substantive Reasons: The Core Of A Theory Of Common-Law Justification, Robert S. Summers
Cornell Law Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
The Constitutional History Of The Seventh Amendment, Charles W. Wolfram
The Constitutional History Of The Seventh Amendment, Charles W. Wolfram
Cornell Law Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.