Law Commons^™

The Press And The Public Interest: An Essay On The Relationship Between Social Behavior And The Language Of First Amendment Theory, Lee C. Bollinger

Michigan Law Review

I would like to explore in this essay one aspect of the contemporary American debate over the theory of freedom of speech and press. The subject I want to address is this: whether the principle of freedom of speech and press should be viewed as protecting some personal or individual interest in speaking and writing or whether it should be seen as fostering a collective or public interest. Sometimes this issue is stated as being whether the first amendment protects a "right to speak" or a "right to hear," though in general the problem seems to be whether we should …

Two Ideas Of International Organization, John H. Barton

Michigan Law Review

Political theory has long sought a philosophical basis for such ideas as law, authority, and freedom - but usually within the context of the nationstate. Only rarely has political theory placed the nation-state in an international framework; and, when it has tried, it has often done poorly. Sometimes the political theory becomes purely altruistic and utopian; at other times it works to support the irresponsibility of individual governments and the breakup of international order.

Geography And Law, Bernhard Grossfeld

Michigan Law Review

The central questions of comparative law are still unsolved: Which legal institutions in what legal cultures can be compared with each other in a meaningful way? What can we learn from comparative law for the solution of our own problems?

This Article will discuss the relations between geography and law. I have already discussed the subject of language and law elsewhere; with regard to religion and law, I refer the reader to the extensive writings of Harold Berman.

International Law As Law In The United States, Louis Henkin

Michigan Law Review

"International law is part of our law." Justice Gray's much-quoted pronouncement in The Paquete Habana was neither new nor controversial when made in 1900, since he was merely restating what had been established principle for the fathers of American jurisprudence and for their British legal ancestors. And Gray's dictum remains unquestioned today. But, after more than two hundred years in our jurisprudence, the import of that principle is still uncertain and disputed. How did, and how does, international law become part of our law? What does it mean that international law is a part of our law? What is the …

Legal Theory And The Obligation To Obey, Philip E. Soper

Articles

Contributions to this symposium will undoubtedly share, with other recent discussions of the issue, the assumption that one does not need to decide what law is before deciding whether there is an obligation to obey it. More precisely, the assumption seems to be that our ordinary, pre-analytic understanding of "law" provides a completely adequate base for discussions about law's moral authority. The more refined disputes about the nature of law that dominate analytical jurisprudence can thus be ignored.