Reason in law
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Reason in law
Pearson/Longman, c2005
7th ed
Available at 3 libraries
Note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
This lively and insightful book is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding why judges made the decisions they did in such current cases as the the Alabama federal courthouse "Ten Commandments" case, Ashcroft v. Oregon (Oregon?s "right to die" law) and Lawrence v. Texas (constitutionality of sodomy laws). The book also examines recent legal controversies over internet music file-swapping and the targeting of "ordinary people" by record companies, internet pornography, the Pledge of Allegiance, and Victoria's Secret.
Table of Contents
Each chapter concludes with a "Illustrative Case" and "Questions About the Case."
1. What Legal Reasoning Is, and Why It Matters.
An Overview of Law and Politics.
A Definition of Law.
A Definition of Legal Reasoning.
Sources of Official Legal Texts.
The Choices That Legal Reasoning Confronts.
2. Change and Stability in Legal Reasoning.
Sources of Unpredictability in Law.
Is Unpredictability in Law Desirable?
The Other Side of the Coin: Stare Decisis as a Stabilizing and Clarifying Element in Law.
3. Common Law.
Origins of Common Law.
Reasoning By Example in Common Law.
Keeping the Common Law Tradition Alive.
The Common Law Tradition Today.
4. Statutory Interpretation.
What Are Statutes?
Four Misguided Approaches to Statutory Interpretation.
Purpose: The Key to Wise Statutory Interpretation.
Stare Decisis in Statutory Interpretation.
A Summary Statement of the Appropriate Judicial Approach to Statutory Interpretation.
5. Interpreting The United States Constitution.
"The Supreme Law of the Land."
Conventional Legal Reasoning in Constitutional Interpretation.
Judicial Review and Democratic Theory.
The Turn to Individual Dignity.
6. Law and Politics.
Three Threats to the Rule of Law.
The Rule of Law.
Conclusion.
Illustrative Case.
Appendix A: Introduction to Legal Procedure and Terminology.
Appendix B: Bush v. Gore.
Credits.
Index.
Index of Cases.
by "Nielsen BookData"