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Who's Afraid Of Humpty Dumpty: Deconstructionist References In Judicial Opinions, Madeleine Plasencia

Seattle University Law Review

The question of why judges are concerned with justifying or defending their decisions from the followers of Derrida?, is posed in this Article both generally, as a matter of legal interpretation, and specifically, within the context of the issue(s) presented in the examined cases. By examining the concerns articulated by the judges in these cases and then referring back to the writings of Derrida, this Article describes the likely outcome if Derrida's views of (legal) interpretation are in fact applied in judicial opinion-making. In Parts II and III, this Article introduces the reader to important concepts in Derridean deconstruction. These …