Law Commons^™

'A Time To Build' - William W. Cook And His Architects: Edward York And Philip Sawyer, Margaret A. Leary

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The following narrative outlines the role of donor William W. cook and the architects who built the Law Quadrangle 70 years ago. The report is excerpted and adapted from 94 Law Library Journal 395-425 (2002-26). The author is director of the University of Michigan Law School's Law Library.

Sex, Gender, And September 11, Hilary Charlesworth, Christine M. Chinkin

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The October 2001 issue of the American Journal ofInternational Law contained several editorials on the international law implications of the hijackings of September 11, 2001, and their aftermath.' In one respect these editorials resemble other writings on these events in academic and popular media: questions of sex and gender are largely overlooked.' In our view, however, concepts of sex and gender provide a valuable perspective on these devastating actions.' We use the term "sex" here to refer to issues about women as distinct biological beings from men, and the term "gender" to encompass social understandings of femininity and masculinity. Although …

The Mote In Thy Brother’S Eye: A Review Of Human Rights As Politics And Idolatry, William M. Carter Jr.

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Michael Ignatieffs provocatively titled collection of essays, Human Rights As Politics and Idolatry [hereinafter Human Rights], is a careful examination of the theoretical underpinnings and contradictions in the area of human rights. At bottom, both of his primary essays, Human Rights As Politics and Human Rights As Idolatry, make a claim that is perhaps contrary to the instincts of human rights thinkers and activists: namely, that international human rights can best be philosophically justified and effectively applied to the extent that they strive for minimal ism. Human rights activists generally argue for the opposite conclusion: that international human rights be …

Equal Opportunity, Individual Liberty And Meritocracy In Education: Reinforcing Structures Of Privilege And Inequality, Christian Sundquist

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The paradigm of equal opportunity inevitably seeks to reproduce and maintain structures of class and racial privilege. The deficit story of equal opportunity is as follows: equal opportunity is a truly objective, neutral, and fair method to allocate educational, employment, and political resources to members of society, without regard to race, class, gender or ethnicity. The ideal of equality assumes the possibility of an objective measure of merit under which individuals' free choices and preferences may be evaluated. Accordingly, through the creation of a baseline that presupposes the inherent sameness of all people and disregards systemic discrimination as a fallacy, …

The War On Terrorism And Civil Liberties, Jules Lobel

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Throughout American history, we have grappled with the problem of balancing liberty versus security in times of war or national emergency. Our history is littered with sordid examples of the Constitution's silence during war or perceived national emergency. The Bush Administration’s War on Terror has once again forced a reckoning requiring Americans to balance liberty and national security in wartime. President Bush has stated, "[w]e believe in democracy and rule of law and the Constitution. But we're under attack.” President Bush, Attorney General Ashcroft and other governmental leaders have argued that in war, "the Constitution does not give foreign enemies …

Memorial: Beverley J. Pooley (1934-2001), Margaret A. Leary

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Beverley J. Pooley died at the age of sixty-seven on August 23, 2001, of kidney failure due to complications from pancreatic cancer. His death came shockingly fast, for he had only learned how seriously ill he was the week before. The bare facts about Bev's life cannot begin to describe what he was to the local community, the University of Michigan, and the law school world. Born in England in 1934, he earned B.A. and LL.B. degrees from Cambridge University; and LL.M., S.J.D., and M.A. in Library Science degrees from the University of Michigan. During that time he served in …

Judicial Activism: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, Arthur D. Hellman

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No matter how judges are selected, sooner or later some unfortunate candidate will be labeled a "judicial activist." One has to wonder: Does the term have any identifiable core meaning? Or is it just an all-purpose term of opprobrium, reflecting whatever brand of judicial behavior the speaker regards as particularly pernicious? Implicit in this question are several important issues about the role of courts in our democratic society.

I take my definition from Judge Richard Posner, who describes activist decisions as those that expand judicial power over other branches of the national government or over state governments. Unlike other uses …

Can A Theory Of Interpretation Make A Difference?, George H. Taylor

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Can a theory of interpretation make a difference? The question has been posed most prominently by Judge Richard Posner, who, in recent work, has criticized the ability to make a difference of both theory writ large and of a theory of interpretation in particular. In other work I contend, contrary to Posner, that a theory of interpretation can make a difference at the level of methodology. Using the example of constitutional and statutory interpretation in law, I develop a theory that argues for the propriety and value of certain methods of interpretation over others. In the present essay, my concern …

Behavioral Genetics And The Best Interests Of The Child Decision Rule, David J. Herring

Articles

This article proposes that modern child custody law should be reassessed in light of recent scientific findings. Judicial determinations of custody use the "best interests of the child" rule. The rule is justified to a large extent by the goal of maximizing child developmental outcomes. The assumption is that a child whose "best interests" are protected stands a better chance of becoming a socially well-adjusted, productive and prosperous citizen.

Recent child development studies have shown that so-called "shared environment," or home environment factors have little effect on child development so long as the shared environment is minimally adequate. Genetics and …

Community Competence For Matters Of Judicial Cooperation At The Hague Conference On Private International Law: A View From The United States, Ronald A. Brand

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The Amsterdam Treaty's introduction of Article 65 into the European Community Treaty took little time to achieve practical importance. In fact, the questions were practical as early as they were theoretical. A 1992 request by the United States that the Hague Conference on Private International Law negotiate a global convention on jurisdiction and the recognition of civil judgments resulted in a laboratory for the new-found competence of the Community. Thus, negotiations already underway--which included delegations from all 15 EU Member States--were affected significantly by the transfer of competence from those states to the Community institutions for matters under consideration at …

Building A Foreign Law Collection At The University Of Michigan Law Library, 1910-1960, Margaret A. Leary

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Ms. Leary describes the vision, energy, imagination, and techniques of the dedicated people who built an eminent foreign law collection at the University of Michigan Law Library. She also uses Michigan as an example to illustrate the development of libraries and librarianship nationally.