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In a critically acclaimed, well-researched attack on legal regulations and bureaucratic red tape, a corporate lawyer shows how rules interfere with common sense and have taken away citizens' power to make decisions. Reprint. National ad/promo. NYT.

We are all familiar with the image of the immensely clever judge who discerns the best rule of common law for the case at hand. According to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a judge like this can maneuver through earlier cases to achieve the desired aim--"distinguishing one prior case on his left, straight-arming another one on his right, high-stepping away from another precedent about to tackle him from the rear, until (bravo!) he reaches the goal--good law." But is this common-law mindset, which is appropriate in its place, suitable also in statutory and constitutional interpretation? In a witty and trenchant essay, Justice Scalia answers this question with a resounding negative.

In exploring the neglected art of statutory interpretation, Scalia urges that judges resist the temptation to use legislative intention and legislative history. In his view, it is incompatible with democratic government to allow the meaning of a statute to be determined by what the judges think the lawgivers meant rather than by what the legislature actually promulgated. Eschewing the judicial lawmaking that is the essence of common law, judges should interpret statutes and regulations by focusing on the text itself. Scalia then extends this principle to constitutional law. He proposes that we abandon the notion of an everchanging Constitution and pay attention to the Constitution's original meaning. Although not subscribing to the "strict constructionism" that would prevent applying the Constitution to modern circumstances, Scalia emphatically rejects the idea that judges can properly "smuggle" in new rights or deny old rights by using the Due Process Clause, for instance. In fact, such judicial discretion might lead to the destruction of the Bill of Rights if a majority of the judges ever wished to reach that most undesirable of goals.

This essay is followed by four commentaries by Professors Gordon Wood, Laurence Tribe, Mary Ann Glendon, and Ronald Dworkin, who engage Justice Scalia's ideas about judicial interpretation from varying standpoints.

The first title in the Black's Handbook Series, this handbook includes the most common key words and phrases with accurate and clear definitions. An essential guide to legal literacy for students, journalists, businesspeople, politicians--anyone who wants to be an informed citizen. This handbook includes accurate, brief, clear definitions to over 1,000 key legal words and phrases. Helpful extras include the full U.S. Constitution and lists of basic law books.

Bentham's central concern during the 1810s and 1820s was with the codification of the law. The materials presented in this volume constitute not only the basis for a biography of Bentham during these years, but also an important and illuminating account of his mature legal and political theory.

Adam Smith and the Philosophy of Law and Economics is a unique book. Malloy and Evensky bring together a team of international and interdisciplinary scholars to address the work of Adam Smith as it relates to law and economics. In addition to their own contributions, the book includes works by Dr. John W. Cairns of the University of Edinburgh, Dr. J. Ralph Lindgren of Lehigh University, Professor Kenneth A.B. Mackinnon of the University of Waikato, and the Honorable Richard A. Posner of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals. Together these authors bring expertise from the areas of law, philosophy, history, economics, and law and economics to a new study of Adam Smith and his work.
Part One of the book presents new and important observations on Smith's views on community, ethics, the court system, criminal law, and delictual or tort law liability. In this part of the book Smith's work is also examined from the perspective of his use as persuasive authority in the works of modern legal economists. In Part Two the `living Smith' is explored by way of a debate between two major contributors in the field of law and economics. The debate and its analysis create a unique and contemporary opportunity to study Smith as a foundational source in the midst of a current academic and social policy dispute.
The understanding of Adam Smith that emerges from this book is new and complex. It will challenge the one-dimensional portrayals of Smith as a promoter of self-interest and it will correct many of the misinterpretations of Smith that are currently fashionable in the worlds of law and economics and the philosophy of law.

Adjudicative competence remains an important topic of research and practice in psychology and law. In the five sections of Adjudicative Competence: The MacArthur Studies, the authors present not only a summary of the research of the MacArthur studies on competence but also an examination of the underlying theoretical work of Professor Richard Bonnie. It is the first publication to encapsulate the scope and significance of both the studies themselves and Bonnie's contributions. There is no other source available that addresses this range of topics. Given its breadth and scope, this book will be a "must have" for forensic mental health professionals, an important volume for lawyers, and a vital academic reference work.

This book, by the author of The American Common Law Method, is an excellent source of continuing judicial education for judges at all levels as well as an accessible teaching tool for the classroom. An opening section explains the basic principles of common law methods for creating and applying case law. Advanced Case Law Method then examines the methods used by appellate courts in four states to create case lines on distinct topics. After each case in each line, the author poses several questions concerning the court's performance as a creator and user of case law.

For instance, one chapter traces the "at will" employment doctrine as developed by the New York Court of Appeals and subsequent efforts to create public policy exceptions to the rule. Another looks at the struggle of the appellate courts of Pennsylvania to limit the "intentional infliction of emotional distress" tort doctrine. The New Hampshire group of cases goes back to the mid-18th century and examines railroad liability issues, culminating in the 21st century with duties imposed on internet information providers when the buyer of information causes harm to the seller. The Texas cases treat the "spoliation" doctrine which penalizes a party responsible for causing key evidence to disappear.

Following the questions raised by the examined cases, Advanced Case Law Methods includes the suggested responses. The text is then supplemented by a section intended to make the questions and suggested responses a springboard for discussion at seminars, conferences and even classrooms. Judges, therefore, won't have to worry about "doing homework" and getting wrong answers.

Adventures in Law and Justice is a down-to-earth explanation of the legal issues that most affect society and individuals. This book tells law's stories, exposes law's myths, and delves into big law-and-justice questions that affect us all. It is vividly illustrated with Australian and international examples, from law cases to everyday matters. It is an introduction, a critique, and a thought-provoking ride, all in one volume.

'An expanded version of lectures on the development of American law delivered at Yale Law School, where Gilmore teaches. The lectures (now essays) convey a highly original, and personal, view of that development, and like the personality who set them down they are sharp, opinionated, and as pungent as cheddar.' ---The New Republic