Jurisprudence Commons^™

Judges As Rulemakers, Larry A. Alexander, Emily Sherwin

University of San Diego Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper Series

This essay analyzes and compares different approaches to the problem of legal precedent. If judges reasoned flawlessly, the ideal approach to precedent would give prior judicial opinions only the weight they naturally carry in moral reasoning. Given that judges are not perfect reasoners, the best approach to precedent is one that treats rules established in prior decisions as authoritative for later judges. In comparison to the natural model of precedent, a rule-based model minimizes error. A rule-based model is also superior to several popular attempts at compromise, which call on judges to reason from the results of prior cases or …

Strategic Judicial Lawmaking: An Empirical Investigation Of Ideology And Publication On The U.S. Court Of Appeals For The Ninth Circuit, David S. Law

University of San Diego Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper Series

Previous studies have demonstrated that, in a number of contexts, federal appeals court judges divide along ideological lines when deciding cases upon the merits. To date, however, researchers have failed to find evidence that circuit judges take advantage of selective publication rules to further their ideological preferences - for example, by voting more ideologically in published cases that have precedential effect than in unpublished cases that lack binding effect upon future panels. This article evaluates the possibility that judges engage in strategic judicial lawmaking by voting more ideologically in published cases than in unpublished cases. To test this hypothesis, all …

Appointing Federal Judges: The President, The Senate, And The Prisoner's Dilemma, David S. Law

University of San Diego Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper Series

This paper argues that the expansion of the White House's role in judicial appointments since the late 1970s, at the expense of the Senate, has contributed to heightened levels of ideological conflict and gridlock over the appointment of federal appeals court judges, by making a cooperative equilibrium difficult to sustain. Presidents have greater electoral incentive to behave ideologically, and less incentive to cooperate with other players in the appointments process, than do senators, who are disciplined to a greater extent in their dealings with each other by the prospect of retaliation over repeat play. The possibility of divided government exacerbates …

Good Faith In The Cisg: Interpretation Problems In Article 7, Benedict C. Sheehy

ExpressO

ABSTRACT: This article examines the dispute concerning the meaning of Good Faith in the CISG. Although there are good reasons for arguing a more limited interpretation or more limited application of Good Faith, there are also good reasons for a broader approach. Regardless of the correct interpretation, however, practitioners and academics need to have a sense of where the actual jurisprudence is going. This article reviews every published case on Article 7 since its inception and concludes that while there is little to suggest a strong pattern is developing, a guided pattern while incorrect doctrinally is preferable to the current …

Of Gift Horses And Great Expectations: Remands Without Vacatur In Administrative Law, Daniel B. Rodriguez

University of San Diego Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper Series

Administrative law has been shaped over the years by fundamentally practical considerations. Displacement of agency decisions by courts was rare; yet, the omnipresent threat of substantial judicial intrusion surely affected agency decisions. While the Administrative Procedure Act, adopted nearly 60 years ago, provides a comprehensive template for federal agency decisionmaking, what is striking about the APA is how much is left out and how much is left to the discretion of both agencies in implementing regulatory decisions and to the courts in superintending agency action. Given this history, it is hardly surprising that many doctrinal techniques represent the pragmatic effort …

Stick Houses In Peshawbestown, Matthew L. M. Fletcher

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The article examines the legal and historical challenges faced by Native American tribes, particularly the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, in asserting their sovereignty and rights. It highlights the federal government's role in undermining tribal autonomy through coercive policies, such as forced sterilization and disenrollment, while also exploring the tension between tribal sovereignty and state jurisdiction. The analysis emphasizes the importance of federal recognition and the ongoing struggles for self-governance, cultural preservation, and economic stability in Native American communities.

The Role Of Purposivism In The Delegation Of Rulemaking Authority To The Courts, Michael Rosensaft

ExpressO

The courts are often used by Congress as a “political lightning rod,” when Congress cannot decide how to resolve an issue. Congress relies on administrative agencies for their expertise, and it also makes sense for Congress to delegate some rulemaking authority to the courts, relying on a court’s expertise in developing caselaw in an incremental basis. However, this authority should not be lightly implied. A court can tell that Congress has delegated rulemaking authority to it when the purpose of the statute is clear and the text is broadly worded. It thus makes sense in these cases that purposivism should …

Preface, Jaime L. Henshaw

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor: The World's Most Powerful Jurist?, Diane Lowenthal, Barbara Palmer

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Windfall Justice: Sentences At The Mercy Of Hypertechnicality, Jack Nordby

William Mitchell Law Review

Once upon a time (a time not so remote as to be beyond the memories of many of us who still toil in the vineyards of justice), the severity of a criminal sentence was determined largely at the whim of the trial judge, who was guided only by vague considerations of suitability. Non-premeditated murder, for example, might be punished by anything from probation to forty years in prison. A parole board exercised a similarly subjective power to temper the term with early release. Then, about a quarter century ago, the legislature created a commission to establish sentencing “guidelines,” said to …

The Pace And Cause Of Change, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 357 (2004), Larry D. Kramer

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Foreword, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 317 (2004), Samuel R. Olken

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Province Of The Judiciary, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 325 (2004), William E. Nelson

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Secret Life Of The Political Question Doctrine, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 441 (2004), Louis Michael Seidman

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Marbury V. Madison As The First Great Administrative Law Decision, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 481 (2004), Thomas W. Merrill

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Consular Absolutism: The Need For Judicial Review In The Adjudication Of Immigrant Visas For Permanent Residence, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 577 (2004), Maria Zas

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Hardball, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 523 (2004), Mark Tushnet

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reply To Judge Easterbrook: Regarding History As A Judicial Duty, Harry F. Tepker

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Foreword, Helen Meyer

William Mitchell Law Review

The William Mitchell Law Review has decided once again to dedicate one issue of this annual volume to Recent Decisions of the Minnesota Supreme Court. This issue reviews some of the court’s more important decisions from the 2003-04 term. If tradition is honored, the articles and notes you find in these pages will be thorough, well-written, and thoughtful in their analysis of each decision. This annual review is a tradition that gives our legal community a wonderful opportunity to publicly comment on the work of the court. This public testing of the court’s work is a healthy part of the …

The Allocation Of Profits Between Related Entities And The Oppression Remedy: An Analysis Of Ford Motor Co. V. Omers, Kim Brooks, Anita Anand

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In Ford Motor Co. v. Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Board, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice reviewed the transfer pricing arrangements between parent and subsidiaries Ford US and Ford Canada in the context of a going-private transaction. Its review was the key to resolving the two main issues in the case: first, did the transfer-pricing arrangements understate Ford Canada's profits so as to undermine the fair value of Ford Canada's shares? And second, did the transfer-pricing arrangement oppress or unduly disregard the interests of Ford Canada's minority shareholders so as to give rise to the oppression remedy?

In this comment, …

Second Annual Henry Lecture: Judicial Discretion In Statutory Interpretation, Frank H. Easterbrook

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reply To Judge Easterbrook: The Unsupported Delegation Of Conflict Adjudication In Erisa Benefit Claims Under The Guise Of Judicial Deference, Donald T. Bogan

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reply To Judge Easterbrook: Judicial Discretion And Statutory Interpretation, Steven J. Cleveland

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pragmatism And Judgment: A Comment On Lund, Mark V. Tushnet

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Nelson Lund's article is entitled The Rehnquist Court's Pragmatic Approach to Civil Rights.' I raise three questions about his analysis, two of which take off from the phrasing of his title. First, calling the present Court the Rehnquist Court is obviously easy, and I do it myself in the subtitle of my forthcoming book. Professor Lund has of course taken his charge from the conveners of this Symposium, and I do not mean to criticize him for doing so. Still, it may be worth pointing out that convening a symposium that encourages people to think in terms of "the Rehnquist …

Accommodating The Unauthorized Use Of Copyrighted Works For Religious Purposes Under The Fair Use Doctrine And Copyright Act § 110(3), Thomas F. Cotter

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Market Fundamentalism And The Trips Agreement, Thomas F. Cotter

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Sandra Day O'Connor's Position On Discrimination, Stephen E. Gottlieb

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Foreword, Paula A. Monopoli

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Speech And Strife, Robert L. Tsai

Faculty Scholarship

The essay strives for a better understanding of the myths, symbols, categories of power, and images deployed by the Supreme Court to signal how we ought to think about its authority. Taking examples from free speech jurisprudence, the essay proceeds in three steps. First, I argue that the First Amendment constitutes a deep source of cultural authority for the Court. As a result, linguistic and doctrinal innovation in the free speech area have been at least as bold and imaginative as that in areas like the Commerce Clause. Second, in turning to cognitive theory, I distinguish between formal legal argumentation …

The Immense Rumor, Peter Goodrich

Articles

The article explores the intersection of friendship and law, particularly through the lens of Jacques Derrida's theory, which posits that the concept of friendship is inherently paradoxical and shaped by legal and theological frameworks. Derrida argues that the "immense rumor" of friendship reflects a historical inability to articulate amity publicly, leading to a repression of friendship in the public sphere. This repression is rooted in the humanist tradition, which draws from Graeco-Roman and Judeo-Christian influences, emphasizing the primacy of political or communal bonds over individual friendships. The analysis reveals that legal discourses have imposed prohibitions on the role of friendship, …