Law Commons^™

Just Apologies: An Overview Of The Philosophical Issues, Nick Smith

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

In this article, the author offers overview of his book "I Was Wrong: The Meanings of Apologies" published in the year 2008, which provides a theoretical framework for apologies from individuals and from groups. He informs that the book explains meanings of apologies from individuals and collectives and focuses on the development of framework to law.

An Introduction: The Richness Of Forgiveness Studies, Policy, And Practice, Calvin William Sharpe

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

The article offers information on the philosophical and scientific examination of the policies and practice of the forgiveness studies in the U.S. It informs about several philosophers who put in their efforts towards effectiveness of the scientific research on forgiveness including Jeffrie Murphy, Jean Hampton, and Everett L. Worthington. It also focuses on various theories of forgiveness.

Copyright Essentialism And The Performativity Of Remedies, Andrew Gilden

William & Mary Law Review

This Article critically examines the interrelationship between substantive copyright protections and the remedies available for infringement. Drawing from constitutional remedies scholarship and poststructural theories of performativity, it argues that a court’s awareness of the likely remedy award in a particular dispute —combined with its normative view of how future actors should address similar disputes—“reaches back” and shapes the determination of the parties’ respective rights.

Copyright scholars have long sought to limit the availability of injunctive relief, and several recent court decisions have adopted this reform. For example, in Salinger v. Colting the Second Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction against a …

Theism, Naturalism, And Liberalism: John Stuart Mill And The “Final Inexplicability” Of The Self, John Lawrence Hill

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Victim Harm, Retributivism And Capital Punishment: A Philosophy Critique Of Payne V. Tennessee , R. P. Peerenboom

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Teaching The Torture Memos: "Making Decision Under Conditions Of Uncertainty", Clare Keefe Coleman

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Kant's Categorical Imperative: An Unspoken Factor In Constitutional Rights Balancing, Donald L. Beschle

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Bewitched By Language: Wittgenstein And The Practice Of Law, Bruce A. Markell

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

On Strict Liability Crimes: Preserving A Moral Framework For Criminal Intent In An Intent-Free Moral World, W. Robert Thomas

Michigan Law Review

The law has long recognized a presumption against criminal strict liability. This Note situates that presumption in terms of moral intuitions about the role of intention and the unique nature of criminal punishment. Two sources-recent laws from state legislatures and recent advances in moral philosophy-pose distinct challenges to the presumption against strict liability crimes. This Note offers a solution to the philosophical problem that informs how courts could address the legislative problem. First, it argues that the purported problem from philosophy stems from a mistaken relationship drawn between criminal law and morality. Second, it outlines a slightly more nuanced moral …

Joyce Apsel On The Oxford Handbook Of Genocide Studies. Edited By Donald Bloxham & A. Dirk Moses. New York, Ny: Oxford University Press, 2010. 675pp., Joyce Apsel

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The Oxford Handbook of Genocide Studies. Edited by Donald Bloxham & A. Dirk Moses. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2010. 675pp.

Can Criminal Law Be Controlled?, Darryl K. Brown

Michigan Law Review

It is a bizarre state of affairs that criminal law has no coherent description or explanation. We have standard tropes to define criminal law, but they obscure as much as they clarify and are honored in the breach as much as the rule. Crimes, for instance, are defined by wrongdoing and culpability; to be guilty, one must do a wrongful act in a blameworthy manner, that is, as a responsible agent without excuse or justification. And crimes define public wrongs, which are distinct from private wrongs. Further, we criminalize only harmful conduct, or risk-creating conduct, or immoral conduct, or conduct …

A Planet By Any Other Name…, Kimberly Kessler Ferzan

Michigan Law Review

In case you haven't heard, Pluto isn't a planet anymore (and maybe it never was). In grade school, we all memorized the planets, giving little thought to what made something a planet besides revolving around the Sun and being part of some familiar mnemonic. However, scientific discoveries about Pluto and other parts of space led scientists to question Pluto's planetary status and ultimately, to strip Pluto of its standing among the planets. This leads to the inevitable question-what is a planet?-which turns out to be a more difficult and fascinating question than one might think. The Pluto Files grapples with …

Matthew S. Weinert On Hegel’S Laws: The Legitimacy Of A Modern Legal Order. By William E. Conklin. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2008. 381pp., Matthew S. Weinert

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Hegel’s Laws: The Legitimacy of a Modern Legal Order. By William E. Conklin. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2008. 381pp.

Necessary Fictions: Indigenous Claims And The Humanity Of Rights, Peter Fitzpatrick

Human Rights & Human Welfare

To begin, not propitiously. When checking whether my title ‘Necessary Fictions’ was being used elsewhere, Google revealed that it was going to be used in a future talk, and by me. It transpired mercifully that this use was going to be quite different to the present which suggested the prospect of a new academic genre: same title, different paper; rather than the standard combination of same paper, different title. Fortuitously, that contrast gave me the leitmotiv for this talk – that things ostensibly the same can be different, and that things ostensibly different can be the same.

© Peter Fitzpatrick. …

Mindfulness, Emotions, And Ethics: The Right Stuff?, Ellen Waldman

Nevada Law Journal

This essay celebrates Leonard Riskin's call to arms while suggesting some limits to what mindfulness can achieve in the ethical realm. I discuss recent developments in neuroethics that imply a prominent role for emotions in establishing ethical restraint. The Article also surveys a growing body of evidence that suggests the directive power of our emotions remains largely hidden from and impervious to the control of our “reasoning” selves. Lastly, the author examines what Riskin has, in an earlier work, described as the ethical hard case in light of recent explorations into the emotional wellsprings of deontological versus consequentialist thinking. Although …

Appeal To Heaven: On The Religious Origins Of The Constitutional Right Of Revolution, John M. Kang

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Essence Of Human Rights: A Religious Critique, Gordon Butler

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Religious &(And) Philosophical Exemptions To Mandatory School Vaccinations: Who Should Bear The Costs To Society, Anthony Ciolli

Missouri Law Review

This Essay will discuss the impact that recognizing religious and philosophical exemptions to mandatory school vaccinations may have on society, with a particular focus on who should bear the costs of the negative externalities created by widespread use of such exemptions. Part I will discuss the rationale behind mandatory vaccinations and identify the costs associated with religious and philosophical exemptions. Part II will discuss the current state of school vaccination law and explain why society cannot expect legislatures to completely eliminate religious and philosophical exemptions or rely on the judiciary to provide a proper check on the abuse of such …

Getting Beyond Religion As Science: "Unstifling" Worldview Formation In American Public Education, Barry P. Mcdonald

Washington and Lee Law Review

Since ancient times, Western civilization has witnessed a great debate over a simple but profound question: From whence did we come? Two major worldviews have dominated that debate: a theistic worldview holding that we, and the world in which we live, are the purposeful product of a supernatural creator; and a materialistic worldview holding that we are the product of unintelligenta nd random naturaflo rces. This debate rose to the fore with Darwin's publication of his theory of evolution and the development of the modern scientific establishment. In America, it initially took its most conspicuous form in efforts by creationists …

Recognition Of Group Rights As Requisite To Substantive Equality Goals, Kathrina Szymborski

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

Courts, legislatures, and scholars are increasingly turning away from traditional Aristotelian thinking in favor of a substantive, pro-active approach to equality. Under the substantive approach, the identification and eradication of systematic discrimination replace an adherence to neutral principles. This Comment argues that while a substantive approach is the most effective way to bring about true equality, it will not succeed unless it centers on protecting group rights. State decision-makers and international human rights advocates must focus on group experiences in order to create societies where no one is favored based on immutable characteristics.

A Rhetorician's View Of Religious Speech In Civic Argument, Jack L. Sammors

Seattle University Law Review

I first examine and reject liberal political methods of addressing the question of religious speech in civic argument, all of which depend upon norms external to the argument that are then excluded from it. Next, in proposing a method that relies only upon the constitutive norms of civic argument itself, I offer a description of civic argument as rhetoric, examine the risks of religious rhetoric in this civic argument, and examine the constitutive norms of civic argument. I address whether the constitutive norms of civic argument are sufficient restraints upon religious rhetoric such that reliance upon external norms is not …

Using The Concept Of “A Philosophy Of Lawyering” In Teaching Professional Responsibility, Nathan M. Crystal

Saint Louis University Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Aesthetics Of Commercial Law -- Domestic And International Implications, Heather Hughes

Louisiana Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Virtuous State Would Not Assign Correctional Housing Based On Ability To Pay, Bradley W. Moore

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

Pay-to-stay jails expose the moral tension between the dominant theories of punishment: retributivism and deterrence. A turn to a third major moral theory—virtue ethics—resolves this tension. According to virtue ethics, the moral worth of an action follows from both the character of the action and the disposition of the actor. Virtuous acts promote human flourishing— the central goal of life—when they are the right actions performed for the right reasons. The virtue ethics theory of punishment suggests that pay-to-stay jails conflict with the promotion of human flourishing. A virtuous state’s criminal justice system would not include fee-based incarceration because it …

A Return To Descartes: Property, Profit, And The Corporate Ownership Of Animals, Darian M. Ibrahim

Law and Contemporary Problems

Philosopher Rene Descartes claimed that animals were no different than inanimate objects: that they could not think or feel pain. Rejection of Descartes' views on animals is nearly universal, but today's factory farms are only possible by treating animals according to Cartesian principles. When faced with the realization that animal foods can be made affordable to most consumers only through factory farming, society is left with a dichotomous choice: either stop purchasing and consuming animal products, or animals will continue to suffer in factory farms.

Confronting Barriers To The Courtroom For Animal Advocates: Linking Cultural And Legal Transitions, Taimie Bryant, Una Chaudhuri, Dale Jamieson, Laura Ireland Moore, David J. Wolfson

Animal Law Review

Panelists: Taimie Bryant, Una Chaudhuri, and Dale Jamieson

Moderators: Laura Ireland Moore and David J. Wolfson

In this discussion, panelists explore the many viewpoints society holds with respect to nonhuman animals. The discussion broadly covers ethics and what constitutes ethical behavior in this regard. The question dealt with is, largely, what is the appropriate ethical model to use when arguing that animals deserve better treatment and expanded rights? Unlike parallel movements for human civil rights or women’s equality, the animal rights movement has much greater hurdles to overcome when it comes to arguing that animals deserve equal treatment under the …

The Kelo Threshold: Private Property And Public Use Reconsidered, Steven E. Buckingham

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Hope And Misgiving About Lawyers, Consensus-Building, And Social Problem-Solving, Jennifer Gerarda Brown

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Toward Epistemic Justice: A Response To Professor Goldberg, Dominic J. Balestra

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article is a response to Steven Goldberg's article and lecture "Religious Contributions to the Bioethics Debate: Utilizing Legal Rights while Avoiding Scientific Temptations," 30 Fordham Urb. L.J., 35 (2002) (available at http://new.fordhamj.org/demonstration/dc/v30/13_30FordhamUrbLJ35(2002-2003).pdf). The author argues that the question is not the place of values in a world of fact, but the place of facts in a world of values.

Rule Of Law(Yers), The, Robert F. Cochran Jr.

Missouri Law Review

In recent years, several lawyers and law professors have written books about the decline of ethical behavior in the legal profession.' They have found that lawyers are more adversarial, less civil, less honest, less concerned with justice, and less happy than in the past.2 Associates are less loyal to firms, and firms are less loyal to associates. 3 Many lawyers lament what the profession has become. They wonder whether they do a good thing. "Can I be a lawyer and a good person?" "Do lawyers add to the misery of the world?"