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The Decline And Fall Of The American Judicial Opinion, Part Ii: Back To The Future From The Roberts Court To Learned Hand -- Segmentation, Audience, And The Opportunity Of Justice Sotomayor, Jeffrey A. Van Detta
The Decline And Fall Of The American Judicial Opinion, Part Ii: Back To The Future From The Roberts Court To Learned Hand -- Segmentation, Audience, And The Opportunity Of Justice Sotomayor, Jeffrey A. Van Detta
Jeffrey A. Van Detta
In Part II of his critical study of Learned Hand's district court opinions, Professor Van Detta examines Hand's work from the micro-organizational level of segmentation and the macro-organizational level of the audience principle. Professor Van Detta then compares the district court writing of the Supreme Court's newest appointee, Sonia Sotomayor, and considers how the lessons of Hand's district court record might inform her own tenure on the Court to which Hand's ambitions ran, but were over run by his political luck.
Learned Hand’S District Court Opinions, 1916-1917: A Macrostructural Analysis Employing Cognitive Psychology Principles, Jeffrey A. Van Detta
Learned Hand’S District Court Opinions, 1916-1917: A Macrostructural Analysis Employing Cognitive Psychology Principles, Jeffrey A. Van Detta
Jeffrey A. Van Detta
What makes a judge a good trial court writer? Should this be measured by the writing of the appeals court judges who review them? Does it even matter if trial court judges write well? These are important questions, especially with the growth of our state and federal trial court systems in the United States and Canada. Yet, they’ve not been directly posed, nor adequately answered, even by law professors who use judicial opinions daily as the grist for milling the laity into lawyers. The typical emphasis on appellate opinions as the exemplars of "good judicial writing” is misplaced. Appellate opinions …