Law Commons^™

How Should Elected Judges Interpret Statutes?, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Law Versus Ideology: The Supreme Court And The Use Of Legislative History, David S. Law, David Zaring

William & Mary Law Review

Much of the social science literature on judicial behavior has focused on the impact of ideology on how judges vote. For the most part, however, legal scholars have been reluctant to embrace empirical scholarship that fails to address the impact of legal constraints and the means by which judges reason their way to particular outcomes. This Article attempts to integrate and address the concerns of both audiences by way of an empirical examination of the Supreme Court’s use of a particular interpretive technique— namely, the use of legislative history to determine the purpose and meaning of a statute. We analyzed …

Dworkin V. The Philosophers: A Review Essay On Justice In Robes, Michael S. Green

Faculty Publications

In this review essay, Professor Michael Steven Green argues that Dworkin's reputation among his fellow philosophers has needlessly suffered because of his refusal to back down from his "semantic sting" argument against H. L. A. Hart. Philosophers of law have uniformly rejected the semantic sting argument as a fallacy. Nevertheless Dworkin reaffirms the argument in Justice in Robes, his most recent collection of essays, and devotes much of the book to stubbornly, and unsuccessfully, defending it. This is a pity, because the failure of the semantic sting argument in no way undermines Dworkin's other arguments against Hart.

Statutory Interpretation In Econotopia, Nathan B. Oman

Faculty Publications

Much of the debate in the recent revival of interest in statutory interpretation centers on whether or not courts should use legislative history in construing statutes. The consensus in favor of this practice has come under sharp attack from public choice critics who argue that traditional models of legislative intent are positively and normatively incoherent. This paper argues that in actual practice, courts look at a fairly narrow subset of legislative history. By thinking about the power to write that legislative history as a property right and legislatures as markets, it is possible to use Coase's Theorem and the concept …

A Judge For All Seasons, R. Kent Newmyer

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

John Marshall: Remarks Of October 6, 2000, William H. Rehnquist

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Use That The Future Makes Of The Past: John Marshall's Greatness And Its Lessons For Today's Supreme Court Justices, Jack M. Balkin

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Essential Elements Of Judicial Independence And The Experience Of Pre-Soviet Russia, Thomas E. Plank

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Judicial independence, which first developed in the Anglo-American legal system, is valued by many countries as an important condition for the rule of law. Its existence in any legal system, however, depends on concrete institutional arrangements. In this Article, Professor Plank identifies four institutional elements necessary to establish and maintain an independent judiciary: fixed tenure (with limited exceptions), fixed and adequate compensation, minimum qualifications, and limited civil immunity. The presence of these elements ensures an independent judiciary in many countries. The lack of permanent tenure for judges in most American states, however, raises serious questions about their independence.

To test …

Philosophy, History, And Judging, Donald P. Boyle Jr.

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.