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Full-Text Articles in Law
Encouraging Courage: Law's Response To Fear And Risk, William B. Fisch
Encouraging Courage: Law's Response To Fear And Risk, William B. Fisch
Faculty Publications
Our three papers provide a helpful review of the many things that can go wrong with our system for the protection of civil liberties under the pressures of war or other emergencies. Professor Winfield focuses on the U.S. Attorney General, the non-judicial officer from whom the public might expect the highest fidelity to the law and the constitution. She offers a sobering perspective on the ways in which those expectations can be and have been disappointed. The star of her taxonomy, I take it, is the Leveler, who reaches an independent (and rights-protective!) view of the law and works to …
Constitutional Theory In A Nutshell, Thomas E. Baker
Constitutional Theory In A Nutshell, Thomas E. Baker
Faculty Publications
This article provides a nutshell description of the leading theories and identifies some of the leading theorists on the Constitution. The unit of currency here is the academic law review article, not the Supreme Court decision. The citations here provide illustrative examples of the vast body of literature. The discussion provides preliminary sketches of an intellectual landscape that is vast and often foreboding to the beginner. This article is organized around three basic interpretative questions: Who has the authority to interpret the Constitution? What are the legitimate sources of meaning for interpreting the Constitution? How is the Constitution interpreted within …
Dr. King, Bull Connor, And Persuasive Narratives, Shaun B. Spencer
Dr. King, Bull Connor, And Persuasive Narratives, Shaun B. Spencer
Faculty Publications
This article describes an in-class exercise that illustrates the use of persuasive narrative techniques in a U.S. Supreme Court decision. The article first describes the background to the Supreme Court’s decision in Walker v. City of Birmingham. Next, the article examines persuasive narrative techniques through the lens of an in-class exercise in which students identify the Justices’ narrative devices and consider how those devices preview the Justices’ legal arguments. Finally, the article describes why the Walker case and the exercise are valuable not only to teach persuasive narratives, but also to raise broader issues of lawyering and social justice.