JUDGE POSNER's COMMON LAW CONSTITUTION David Schneyer
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The Fundamentals of Constitutional Courts
Constitution Brief April 2017 Summary The Fundamentals of This Constitution Brief provides a basic guide to constitutional courts and the issues that they raise in constitution-building processes, and is Constitutional Courts intended for use by constitution-makers and other democratic actors and stakeholders in Myanmar. Andrew Harding About MyConstitution 1. What are constitutional courts? The MyConstitution project works towards a home-grown and well-informed constitutional A written constitution is generally intended to have specific and legally binding culture as an integral part of democratic transition effects on citizens’ rights and on political processes such as elections and legislative and sustainable peace in Myanmar. Based on procedure. This is not always true: in the People’s Republic of China, for example, demand, expert advisory services are provided it is clear that constitutional rights may not be enforced in courts of law and the to those involved in constitution-building efforts. constitution has only aspirational, not juridical, effects. This series of Constitution Briefs is produced as If a constitution is intended to be binding there must be some means of part of this effort. enforcing it by deciding when an act or decision is contrary to the constitution The MyConstitution project also provides and providing some remedy where this occurs. We call this process ‘constitutional opportunities for learning and dialogue on review’. Constitutions across the world have devised broadly two types of relevant constitutional issues based on the constitutional review, carried out either by a specialized constitutional court or history of Myanmar and comparative experience. by courts of general legal jurisdiction. -
Magna Carta and the Development of the Common Law
Magna Carta and the Development of the Common Law Professor Paul Brand, FBA Emeritus Fellow All Souls College, Oxford Paper related to a presentation given for the High Court Public Lecture series, at the High Court of Australia, Canberra, Courtroom 1, 13 May 2015 Magna Carta and the Development of the Common Law I We are about to commemorate the eight hundredth anniversary of the granting by King John on 15 June 1215 of a ‘charter of liberties’ in favour of all the free men of his kingdom [of England] and their heirs. That charter was not initially called Magna Carta (or ‘the Great Charter’, in English). It only acquired that name after it had been revised and reissued twice and after the second reissue had been accompanied by the issuing of a separate, but related, Charter of the Forest. The revised version of 1217 was called ‘The Great Charter’ simply to distinguish it from the shorter, and therefore smaller, Forest Charter, but the name stuck. To call it a ‘charter of liberties’ granted by king John to ‘all the free men of his kingdom’ of England is, however, in certain respects misleading. The term ‘liberty’ or ‘liberties’, particularly in the context of a royal grant, did not in 1215 bear the modern meaning of a recognised human right or human rights. ‘Liberty’ in the singular could mean something closer to that, in the general sense of the ‘freedom’ or the ‘free status’ of a free man, as opposed to the ‘unfreedom’ of a villein. ‘Liberties’, though, were something different (otherwise known as ‘franchises’), generally specific privileges granted by the king, particular rights such as the right to hold a fair or a market or a particular kind of private court, the right to have a park or a rabbit warren which excluded others from hunting or an exemption such as freedom from tolls at markets or fairs. -
Law, Liberty and the Rule of Law (In a Constitutional Democracy)
Georgetown University Law Center Scholarship @ GEORGETOWN LAW 2013 Law, Liberty and the Rule of Law (in a Constitutional Democracy) Imer Flores Georgetown Law Center, [email protected] Georgetown Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper No. 12-161 This paper can be downloaded free of charge from: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/1115 http://ssrn.com/abstract=2156455 Imer Flores, Law, Liberty and the Rule of Law (in a Constitutional Democracy), in LAW, LIBERTY, AND THE RULE OF LAW 77-101 (Imer B. Flores & Kenneth E. Himma eds., Springer Netherlands 2013) This open-access article is brought to you by the Georgetown Law Library. Posted with permission of the author. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub Part of the Constitutional Law Commons, Jurisprudence Commons, Legislation Commons, and the Rule of Law Commons Chapter6 Law, Liberty and the Rule of Law (in a Constitutional Democracy) lmer B. Flores Tse-Kung asked, saying "Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life?" K'ung1u-tzu said: "Is not reciprocity (i.e. 'shu') such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not ckJ to others." Confucius (2002, XV, 23, 225-226). 6.1 Introduction Taking the "rule of law" seriously implies readdressing and reassessing the claims that relate it to law and liberty, in general, and to a constitutional democracy, in particular. My argument is five-fold and has an addendum which intends to bridge the gap between Eastern and Western civilizations, -
Equity in the American Courts and in the World Court: Does the End Justify the Means?
EQUITY IN THE AMERICAN COURTS AND IN THE WORLD COURT: DOES THE END JUSTIFY THE MEANS? I. INTRODUCTION Equity, as a legal concept, has enjoyed sustained acceptance by lawyers throughout history. It has been present in the law of ancient civilizations' and continues to exist in modem legal systems.2 But equity is no longer a concept confined exclusively to local or national adjudication. Today, equity shows itself to be a vital part of international law.' The International Court of Justice--"the most visible, and perhaps hegemonic, tribunal in the sphere of public international law" 4-has made a significant contribution to the delimitation,5 development of equity. Particularly in cases involving maritime 6 equity has frequently been applied by the Court to adjudicate disputes. Equity is prominent in national legal systems and has become increas- ingly important in international law. It is useful, perhaps essential, for the international lawyer to have a proper understanding of it. Yet the meaning of equity remains elusive. "A lawyer asked to define 'equity' will not have an easy time of it; the defimition of equity, let alone the term's application in the field of international law, is notoriously uncertain, though its use is rife."7 Through a comparative analysis, this note seeks to provide a more precise understanding of the legal concept of equity as it relates to two distinct systems oflaw: the American and the international. To compare the equity administered by the American courts with that administered by the World Court, this note 1. See sources cited infra notes 10, 22. -
Constitutional Law of the United States, by Hugh Evander Willis
Indiana Law Journal Volume 12 Issue 4 Article 15 4-1937 Constitutional Law of the United States, by Hugh Evander Willis Glenn D. Peters Member, Hammond Bar Follow this and additional works at: https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/ilj Part of the Constitutional Law Commons Recommended Citation Peters, Glenn D. (1937) "Constitutional Law of the United States, by Hugh Evander Willis," Indiana Law Journal: Vol. 12 : Iss. 4 , Article 15. Available at: https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/ilj/vol12/iss4/15 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School Journals at Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Indiana Law Journal by an authorized editor of Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INDIAN. LAW JOURNAL BOOK REVIEW CONSTITUTIONAL LAW OF THE UNITED STATES, by Hugh Evander Willis. 1936. The Principia Press, Bloomington, Indiana. This reviewer has just finished a most interesting task, the critical reading of Dr. Willis' new book on the Constitutional Law of the United States. When one reads this book he is immediately struck with the tremendous amount of intelligent labor that has been bestowed upon it. Not only does the book evince h careful and critical study of hundreds of authorities, both State and Federal, but it also indicates a most careful analysis of political science, philosophy and psychology. Dr. Willis' approach to the subject of the Constitution is most enlightening. Having due regard to Mr. Justice Hughes' holding that the Constitution is what the judges say it is, Dr. -
Evolution of the Common Law and the Emergence of Compromise
EVOLUTION OF THE COMMON LAW AND THE EMERGENCE OF COMPROMISE DOUGLAS GLEN WHITMAN* Abstract In a system of judge-made law, each judge who decides a case in a particular area of law may, in principle, choose to depart from precedent in favor of another rule. This paper examines the question of whether such a system will produce con- stant oscillation among different legal rules or will instead produce a single rule that potential litigants can rely upon when choosing their behavior. Using a model of the legal process that treats judges as self-interested agents maximizing their pri- vate and reputation-based utility, this article derives conditions under which the common-law process will produce convergence on a single rule rather than oscilla- tion between rules. The article also examines the circumstances in which the intro- duction of a compromise rule can resolve a problem of oscillation between rules. Precedent, n. In Law, a previous decision, rule or practice which, in the absence of a de®nite statute, has whatever force and authority a Judge may choose to give it, thereby greatly sim- plifying his task of doing as he pleases. As there are precedents for everything, he has only to ignore those that make against his interest and accentuate those in the line of his desire. Lawful, adj. Compatible with the will of a judge having juris- diction. [Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary] Under what circumstances will a common-law process yield legal rules that people can reliably assume judges will follow? In a system of judge- made law, judges are nominally bound to follow precedent whenever decid- ing cases, but in actual fact judges do depart from precedent from time to time. -
Introduction to the History of Common Law
Rechtswissenschaftliche Fakultät Introduction to the History of Common Law Elisabetta Fiocchi Malaspina Rechtswissenschaftliche Fakultät 29.09.2020 Seite 2 Rechtswissenschaftliche Fakultät Dillon, Laws and Jurisprudence of England and America, Boston 1894, p. 155 The expression, "the common law," is used in various senses: (a) sometimes in distinction from statute law; (b) sometimes in distinction from equity law c) sometimes in distinction from the Roman or civil law […] . I deal with the fact as it exists, which is that the common law is the basis of the laws of every state and territory of the union, with comparatively unimportant and gradually waning exceptions. And a most fortunate circumstance it is, that, divided as our territory is into so many states, each supreme within the limits of its power, a common and uniform general system of jurisprudence underlies and pervades them all; and this quite aside from the excellences of that system, concerning which I shall presently speak. My present point is this: That the mere fact that one and the same system of jurisprudence exists in all of the states, is of itself of vast importance, since it is a most powerful agency in promoting commercial, social, and intellectual intercourse, and in cementing the national unity”. 29.09.2020 Seite 3 Rechtswissenschaftliche Fakultät Common Law Civil law Not codified Law (exceptions: statutes) Codified law role of judges: higher judicial role of judges: lower judicial discretion discretion, set precedents No clear separation between public Separation -
Federalizing Contract Law
LCB_24_1_Article_5_Plass_Correction (Do Not Delete) 3/6/2020 10:06 AM FEDERALIZING CONTRACT LAW by Stephen A. Plass* Contract law is generally understood as state common law, supplemented by the Second Restatement of Contracts and Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code. It is regarded as an expression of personal liberty, anchored in the bar- gain and consideration model of the 19th century or classical period. However, for some time now, non-bargained or adhesion contracts have been the norm, and increasingly, the adjudication of legal rights and contractual remedies is controlled by privately determined arbitration rules. The widespread adoption of arbitral adjudication by businesses has been enthusiastically endorsed by the Supreme Court as consonant with the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”). How- ever, Court precedents have concluded that only bilateral or individualized arbitration promotes the goals of the FAA, while class arbitration is destruc- tive. Businesses and the Court have theorized that bilateral arbitration is an efficient process that reduces the transaction costs of all parties thereby permit- ting firms to reduce prices, create jobs, and innovate or improve products. But empirical research tells a different story. This Article discusses the constitu- tional contours of crafting common law for the FAA and its impact on state and federal laws. It shows that federal common law rules crafted for the FAA can operate to deny consumers and workers the neoclassical contractual guar- antee of a minimum adequate remedy and rob the federal and state govern- ments of billions of dollars in tax revenue. From FAA precedents the Article distills new rules of contract formation, interpretation, and enforcement and shows how these new rules undermine neoclassical limits on private control of legal remedies. -
Federalism and Constitutional Criminal Law Brenner M
Hofstra Law Review Volume 46 | Issue 2 Article 6 12-1-2017 Federalism and Constitutional Criminal Law Brenner M. Fissell Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/hlr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Fissell, Brenner M. (2017) "Federalism and Constitutional Criminal Law," Hofstra Law Review: Vol. 46 : Iss. 2 , Article 6. Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/hlr/vol46/iss2/6 This document is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarly Commons at Hofstra Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hofstra Law Review by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons at Hofstra Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Fissell: Federalism and Constitutional Criminal Law FEDERALISM AND CONSTITUTIONAL CRIMINAL LAW Brenner M. Fissell* I. INTRODUCTION Over the past fifty years, the Supreme Court has created an expansive and nearly comprehensive body of constitutional criminal procedure. These are the familiar rules about police investigation and fair trials. At the same time, though, the Court has repeatedly resisted doing the same for substantive criminal law and sentencing. It has generally avoided limiting what can be a crime, how it must be defined, and how much it can be punished. As William Stuntz concluded, while "policing and the trial process" have been "aggressively" regulated, "substantive criminal law" has been essentially left "to the politicians."' It takes an entire law school course to read just the highlights of the search and seizure cases; with respect to what can be a crime and how it must be defined, though, "constitutional law places few limits . -
Supreme Court/Docketpdf/19/19
No. 19-292 IN THE Supreme Court of the United States ___________ ROXANNE TORRES, Petitioner, v. JANICE MADRID, ET AL., Respondents. ___________ On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ___________ BRIEF OF CONSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY CENTER AS AMICUS CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER ___________ ELIZABETH B. WYDRA BRIANNE J. GOROD* DAVID H. GANS BRIAN R. FRAZELLE CLARE E. RIVA** CONSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY CENTER 1200 18th Street NW Suite 501 Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 296-6889 [email protected] Counsel for Amicus Curiae February 6, 2020 * Counsel of Record ** Not admitted in D.C.; supervised by principals of the firm TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ................................. ii INTEREST OF AMICUS CURIAE ...................... 1 INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT ................................................ 1 ARGUMENT ......................................................... 5 I. The Common Law’s Expansive Definition of “Arrest” Should Inform the Meaning of “Seizure” Under the Fourth Amendment ... 5 II. In Founding-Era Common Law, An Arrest Included Any Use of Physical Force to Subdue or Detain, Whether or Not the Subject Was Ultimately Captured .............. 15 III. Applying the Common Law Rule Will Also Vindicate the Framers’ Understanding that Civil Damages Actions Would Be a Key Deterrent Against Unreasonable Intrusions on Persons and Property .......... 21 CONCLUSION ..................................................... 25 (i) ii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Page(s) Cases Barrett v. Copeland, 18 Vt. 67 (1844) ...................................... 23 Boyd v. United States, 116 U.S. 616 (1886) ................................ 8, 22 Burlingham v. Wylee, 2 Root 152 (Conn. Super. Ct. 1794) ....... 23 California v. Hodari D., 499 U.S. 621 (1991) ................................ passim Carpenter v. United States, 138 S. Ct. -
Common Law Powers
If you have issues viewing or accessing this file contact us at NCJRS.gov. • ;:, . '. .',,~. ' b. '. ()" '. }" " Common Law Powers This microfiche was produced from documents received for inc~usion In the HeJIRS data base.' Since HCJRS cannot exercise of State Attornys control over the physical condition of the documents submitted, neral th~ individual frame qualit~ will vary. Th! resolution chart on this frame may be used to evaluate the :document quality. January, 1975 . ..~ Ij II . II 2 5 i, 1.0 1111/ . i.! 'I The National Association of Attorneys General 2.2 , ! ,! Committee on the Office of Attorney General I 1.1 :I , j A. F. Summer, Chairman I ·1 I .1l 1111,1.25 111111.4 1111I i.6 1 I I 1 MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART . It NATIONAL BUREAU Of STANDARDS-1963-A I : I ; ! U Microfilmin& procedlfJres used to create this fiche comply with the standards set forth in 41CFR 101·11.504/. ~. ft. " • .1 Points of view or opinions $tahd in this documant are those of the authorls) and do not represent the official pOSition 9J policies o~ tha U.S. Department of Justice. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE lAW ENFORCEMENT ASSISTANCE ADMINISTRATION NA TlOHAl CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFERENCE SERVICE WASHINGTON, D.C. 20531 ··----w_~w ....... o ate f i I m'e II; 8/5/7 5 ~"""""'-~"'-~-' ~ .... ---.--~ --------------------- ----.--~-------------------------------------------- THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ATTORNEYS GENERAL National Association of Attorneys General COMMITTEE D.N THE OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL Committee on the Office of Attorney General I Chairman j Attorney General A. F. Summer, Mississippi President-Elect, National Association of Attorneys General ,\! Vice-Chairman Attorney General Rufus L. -
Labour & Employment 2020
Labour & Employment 2020 Contributing editors Matthew Howse, Sabine Smith-Vidal, Walter Ahrens, K Lesli Ligorner and Mark Zelek © Law Business Research 2020 Publisher Tom Barnes [email protected] Subscriptions Claire Bagnall Labour & [email protected] Senior business development manager Adam Sargent Employment [email protected] Published by Law Business Research Ltd Meridian House, 34-35 Farringdon Street 2020 London, EC4A 4HL, UK The information provided in this publication Contributing editors is general and may not apply in a specific situation. Legal advice should always Matthew Howse, Sabine Smith-Vidal, Walter Ahrens, be sought before taking any legal action K Lesli Ligorner and Mark Zelek based on the information provided. This information is not intended to create, nor Morgan Lewis does receipt of it constitute, a lawyer– client relationship. The publishers and authors accept no responsibility for any acts or omissions contained herein. The information provided was verified between March and May 2020. Be advised that this is Lexology Getting The Deal Through is delighted to publish the fifteenth edition of Labour & a developing area. Employment, which is available in print and online at www.lexology.com/gtdt. Lexology Getting The Deal Through provides international expert analysis in key areas of © Law Business Research Ltd 2020 law, practice and regulation for corporate counsel, cross-border legal practitioners, and company No photocopying without a CLA licence. directors and officers. First published 2006 Throughout this edition, and following the unique Lexology Getting The Deal Through Fifteenth edition format, the same key questions are answered by leading practitioners in each of the jurisdictions ISBN 978-1-83862-357-9 featured.