Law Commons^™

The Unruliness Of Rules, Peter A. Alces

Peter A. Alces

No abstract provided.

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 …

Leiter On The Legal Realists, Michael S. Green

Michael S. Green

In this essay reviewing Brian Leiter’s recent book Naturalizing Jurisprudence, I focus on two positions that distinguish Leiter’s reading of the American legal realists from those offered in the past. The first is his claim that the realists thought the law is only locally indeterminate – primarily in cases that are appealed. The second is his claim that they did not offer a prediction theory of law, but were instead committed to a standard positivist theory. Leiter’s reading is vulnerable, because he fails to discuss in detail those passages from the realists that inspired past interpretations. My goal is to …

Chinese Encounters, Robert M. Sanger

Robert M. Sanger

A Review of the book Chinese Encounters by Inge Morath and Arthur Miller. Miller inquired about cultural and legal issues in China as one of the first American intellectuals to be given relatively free access to China since the Mao regime. Inge Morath provided remarkable photographs. The significance was the juxtaposition of Miller's adherence to the Western concept of the Rule of Law with the communitarian values of Chinese culture.