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Why Theories Of Law Have Little Or Nothing To Do With Judicial Restraint, Philip E. Soper
Why Theories Of Law Have Little Or Nothing To Do With Judicial Restraint, Philip E. Soper
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The question I explore here, stated in its broadest form, is this: What is the connection between theory and practice between academic claims about how judges should decide cases and the actual behavior of judges as revealed in the opinions they write? More particularly, do theories about the nature of law have any implications for the question whether a judge should adopt an "activist" or a "restrained" approach to deciding cases? As you might infer from my title, I defend here what I call "the skeptical thesis" in answer to both the general and particular questions. Judges pay little or …