Law and Philosophy Commons^™

The Influence Of Juridical Cant On Edificatory Approaches In 21st-Century America, David Pozen

Faculty Scholarship

This essay reframes the debate over the "growing disjunction" between legal scholarship and legal practice. Law review articles continue to make the world a better place, the essay stipulates. But are judicial opinions becoming less useful to students and scholars? A rigorous analysis and concrete prescriptions follow.

Religiosity In Constitutions And The Status Of Minority Rights, Brandy G. Robinson

Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions

Minority rights and religion have never been topics that are simultaneously considered. However, arguably, the two have relevance, especially when combined with the topic and theory of constitutionalism. Historically and traditionally, minorities have been granted certain rights and have been denied certain rights under various constitutions. These grants and denials relate to cultural differences and values, arguably relating to a culture’s understanding and interpretation of religion.

This article explores the relationship and status of minority rights as it relates to religiosity and constitutionalism. Essentially, there is a correlation between these topics and research shows where certain nations have used religion …

December 30, 2014: The Radical Religious Message Of A Charlie Brown Christmas, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The Radical Religious Message of A Charlie Brown Christmas“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

December 27, 2014: Religion As Tool, Not Identity, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Religion as Tool, Not Identity“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

December 24, 2014: Christmas Mourning, 2014, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Christmas Mourning, 2014“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

December 21, 2014: Questioning Capitalism, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Questioning Capitalism“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

December 18, 2014: Good News On Cuba, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Good News on Cuba“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

December 14, 2014: The Tough Guys Who Favor Torture, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The Tough Guys Who Favor Torture“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

The Legacy Of Ronald Dworkin (1931-2013): A Legal Theory And Methodology For Hedgehogs, Hercules, And One Right Answers, Imer Flores

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In this paper the author addresses Ronald Dworkin’s work and assesses his legacy to legal, moral and political philosophy. And so, considers among its merits having developed an original legal theory with its distinctive methodology, which not only has transcended the Natural Law and Legal Positivism dichotomy, but also has reintegrated law into a branch of political morality and defended as a corollary the one right answer thesis. Hence, commences by identifying the dworkininan challenge; continues by introducing some basic definitions and distinctions between jurisprudence, legal philosophy (or philosophy of law) and legal theory (or theory of law), on the …

December 11, 2014: No Justification For Torture, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “No Justification for Torture“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

December 9, 2014: There Was A Moment, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “There Was a Moment“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

December 6, 2014: The Death Of Meaning In Law And Life, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The Death of Meaning in Law and Life“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Prediction Theories Of Law And The Internal Point Of View, Michael S. Green

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Jury Voting Paradoxes, Jason Iuliano

Michigan Law Review

The special verdict is plagued by two philosophical paradoxes: the discursive dilemma and the lottery paradox. Although widely discussed in the philosophical literature, these paradoxes have never been applied to jury decision making. In this Essay, I use the paradoxes to show that the special verdict’s vote-reporting procedures can lead judges to render verdicts that the jurors themselves would reject. This outcome constitutes a systemic breakdown that should not be tolerated in a legal system that prides itself on the fairness of its jury decision-making process. Ultimately, I argue that, because the general verdict with answers to written questions does …

November 30, 2014: More Reasons The Democratic Party Coalition Collapsed, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “More Reasons the Democratic Party Coalition Collapsed“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

November 26, 2014: Pope Tells Haggard Europe That It Is In Need Of Cultural Renewal, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Pope Tells Haggard Europe that it is in Need of Cultural Renewal“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Closing The Doors To Justice: A Critique Of Pimentel V. Dreyfus And The Application Of Legal Formalism To The Elimination Of Food Assistance Benefits For Legal Immigrants, Hannah Zommick

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment contends that the Ninth Circuit’s opinion in Pimentel v. Dreyfus employed a legal formalist approach and that by applying this framework, the court prevented legal immigrants, who were caught between the strict eligibility restrictions of welfare reform, from asserting their rights through the justice system. The legal formalist approach “treats the law as a set of scientific formulae or principles that are derived from the study of case law. These principles create an internal analytical framework which, when applied to a set of facts, leads the decision maker, through logical deduction, to the correct outcome in a case.” …

November 21, 2014: The Secular Death Penalty, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The Secular Death Penalty“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

November 20, 2014: Not Serving The Interests Of The Country, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Not Serving the Interests of the Country“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Freedom, Benefit And Understanding: Reflections On Laurence Claus's Critique Of Authority, John M. Finnis

Journal Articles

Written for a symposium in the University of San Diego Law School in September 2013 on Laurence Claus, Law’s Evolution and Human Understanding (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), this article appears in the final issue of volume 52 of the San Diego Law Review. With new illustrations and considerations suggested by the book, the article argues for a number of theses: “Because I/we say so” is never a reasonable ground or formulation of authoritative acts such as enactments or parental or other orders. The moral authority of rule makers is never peremptory in a binary (all or nothing) as …

November 16, 2014: A Beautiful Movie, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “A Beautiful Movie“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

November 13, 2014: The Climate Deal With China, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The Climate Deal with China“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

November 9, 2014: How Destructive Is Capitalism?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “ How Destructive Is Capitalism?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

November 6, 2014: An Election Of Anxiety, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “An Election of Anxiety“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

November 2, 2014: Today’S Papers, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Today’s Papers“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

The Scope Of Precedent, Randy J. Kozel

Michigan Law Review

The scope of Supreme Court precedent is capacious. Justices of the Court commonly defer to sweeping rationales and elaborate doctrinal frameworks articulated by their predecessors. This practice infuses judicial precedent with the prescriptive power of enacted constitutional and statutory text. The lower federal courts follow suit, regularly abiding by the Supreme Court’s broad pronouncements. These phenomena cannot be explained by—and, indeed, oftentimes subvert—the classic distinction between binding holdings and dispensable dicta. This Article connects the scope of precedent with recurring and foundational debates about the proper ends of judicial interpretation. A precedent’s forward- looking effect should not depend on the …

October 31, 2014: Pennsylvania Doings, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Pennsylvania Doings“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Deal Leaves Court Issues Unresolved, Bruce Ledewitz

Ledewitz Papers

Published scholarship collected from academic journals, law reviews, newspaper publications & online periodicals

October 25, 2014: In Our Dark Time, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “ In Our Dark Time“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

October 22, 2014: The Panic Over Ebola, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The Panic Over Ebola“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.