Law Commons^™

Take This Job And Shove It: The Pragmatic Philosophy Of Johnny Paycheck And A Prayer For Strict Liability In Appalachia, Eugene "Trey" Moore Iii

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming

Punishment Without Culpability, John F. Stinneford

John F. Stinneford

For more than half a century, academic commentators have criticized the Supreme Court for failing to articulate a substantive constitutional conception of criminal law. Although the Court enforces various procedural protections that the Constitution provides for criminal defendants, it has left the question of what a crime is purely to the discretion of the legislature. This failure has permitted legislatures to evade the Constitution’s procedural protections by reclassifying crimes as civil causes of action, eliminating key elements (such as mens rea) or reclassifying them as defenses or sentencing factors, and authorizing severe punishments for crimes traditionally considered relatively minor. The …

The Economics Of The Restatement And Of The Common Law, Keith N. Hylton

Faculty Scholarship

Perhaps the most optimistic view of the American Law Institute's Restatement project was provided at its inception by Benjamin Cardozo:

When, finally, it goes out under the name and with the sanction of the Institute, after all this testing and retesting, it will be something less than a code and something more than a treatise. It will be invested with unique authority, not to command, but to persuade. It will embody a composite thought and speak a composite voice. Universities and bench and bar will have had a part in its creation. I have great faith in the power of …

Punishment Without Culpability, John F. Stinneford

UF Law Faculty Publications

For more than half a century, academic commentators have criticized the Supreme Court for failing to articulate a substantive constitutional conception of criminal law. Although the Court enforces various procedural protections that the Constitution provides for criminal defendants, it has left the question of what a crime is purely to the discretion of the legislature. This failure has permitted legislatures to evade the Constitution’s procedural protections by reclassifying crimes as civil causes of action, eliminating key elements (such as mens rea) or reclassifying them as defenses or sentencing factors, and authorizing severe punishments for crimes traditionally considered relatively minor.

The …

Let Us Never Blame A Contract Breaker, Richard A. Posner

Michigan Law Review

Holmes famously proposed a "no fault" theory of contract law: a contract is an option to perform or pay, and a "breach" is therefore not a wrongful act, but merely triggers the duty to pay liquidated or other damages. I elaborate the Holmesian theory, arguing that fault terminology in contract law, such as "good faith," should be given pragmatic economic interpretations, rather than be conceived of in moral terms. I further argue that contract doctrines should normally be alterable only on the basis of empirical investigations.

There Are No Bad Dogs, Only Bad Owners: Replacing Strict Liability With A Negligence Standard In Dog Bite Cases, Lynn A. Epstein

Animal Law Review

Should the law treat dogs as vicious animals or loving family companions? This article analyzes common law strict liability as applied to dog bite cases and the shift to modern strict liability statutes, focusing on the defense of provocation. It discusses the inconsistency in the modern law treatment of strict liability in dog bite cases. The article then resolves why negligence is the proper cause of action in dog bite cases. The Author draws comparisons among dog owner liability in dog bite cases, parental liability for a child’s torts, and property owner liability for injuries caused by his property. The …

The Common Law As Cricket, David F. Partlett

Vanderbilt Law Review

Cricket and baseball are the summer national pastimes of England and America. They both involve players, one of whom propels a hard leather ball toward another with the intent of getting that other "out."The hitter tries to avoid getting out and attempts to hit the ball as far as possible. Umpires preside. Despite all these and other common factors, the games are different. Baseball is brash and dusty, and umpires endure frequent abuse; cricket is restrained and village greenish, and umpires rarely suffer abuse. Both games draw from history and culture.Where transplanted the games assume a different guise. In the …

The Enterprise Liability Theory Of Torts, Howard C. Klemme

Publications

No abstract provided.

Television Sponsor And Advertising Agency Held Vicariously Liable For Copyright Infringement--Davis V. E.I. Dupont De Nemours & Co., Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

DuPont sponsored a dramatization of Edith Wharton's novel Ethan Frome presented by the CBS television network. Petitioner claimed an infringement of his earlier copyrighted dramatization of the same novel and sought a declaration of liability against CBS, the producer of the program, DuPont, and its advertising agency, Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn, Inc. (BBDO). Although DuPont and BBDO were notified before the performance of the possibility of copyright infringement liability and could have stopped the producers from using petitioner's play, they made no attempt to interfere. In petitioner's action in the federal district court, DuPont and BBDO contended that they …

Negligence: Blackstone To Shaw To? An Intellectual Escapade In A Tory Vein, E. F. Roberts

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Liability Of The Custodian Of Public Funds Lost Without His Fault, Gustav Stein

Michigan Law Review

In a work on Public Offices and Officers, the writer characterizes the question of the liability of an officer and his sureties for loss of public funds by the officer without default on his part, as ''of great interest and importance, but one upon which the authorities are in conflict." Since the publication of that work in 1890, a con­ siderable number of cases has arisen continuing the conflict, and llustrating its importance. It is proposed in this article, to state the views entertained by the courts, the extent to which they have been applied, the reasons advanced to support …