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.

This popular casebook is highly regarded for its ability to provide a solid introduction to the practical realities of constitutional decision-making by taking a distinctive historical approach. In its revised and updated Fifth Edition, PROCESSES OF CONSTITUTIONAL DECISIONMAKING is an invaluable tool for teaching students the origins and development of constitutional doctrine. Proven effective through years of successful classroom use, the casebook: traces the historical, political, and social development of constitutional law, then considers constitutional questions in a broad historical context presents cutting-edge contributions from important contemporary legal scholars discusses seminal cases from the annals of history that show the relevance of historical materials to modern constitutional analysis provides full treatment of the important issues of civil rights, federalism, and separation of powers draws on the combined expertise of an outstanding author team contains particularly strong chapters on the constitutional treatment of sex equality and race Longtime users will find much new information in the Fifth Edition, including: timely coverage of civil liberties during wartime revised and expanded treatment of constitutional rights of sexual orientation minorities more material on rights of the poor and constitutional rights in the welfare state full analysis of new doctrines on federalism and civil rights powers

The definitive volume on the sources of contemporary conflict and the array of possible responses to it.

Following the established and successful Examples&Explanations format, Examples&Explanations: Conflict of Laws is a straightforward learning and study tool law that will illuminate for students all of the basic Conflicts issues and topics. Among the outstanding features of this new Examples&Explanations: the author has a humorous writing style that is engaging, clear, and informalbig-picture overviews of essential topics are followed by sufficient detail to allow students to understand and apply principlesthe proven-effective Examples&Explanations pedagogy, which introduces new concepts through clear exposition and then provides illustrative examples followed by full explanations and analysis, works especially well for Conflict of Laws where students learn best by applying the concepts they are learning to new fact patternsspecial emphasis on Choice of Law, where students frequently have trouble applying the abstract theories to concrete casesmodular chapter organization so that chapters can be studied in any order to adapt to any coursetest-taking tips for Conflict of Laws exams When you recommend Examples&Explanations: Conflict of Laws to your students, you can feel confident that they will get thorough coverage of all the topics you cover - including choice of law issues and proof of foreign law - in your course.

The new edition contains added materials on complex litigation and conflicts in cyberspace, federal state conflicts and the extraterritorial reach of the Constitution, incorporating recently decided Supreme Court cases. In addition, there is expanded treatment of recent family law issues, including: interstate dissolution, child custody, adoption and same-sex couples. This edition continues the tradition of organizing the teaching of conflicts around the broad themes reflected in different intellectual approaches to the problem.

Conundrums, puzzles, and perversities: these are Leo Katz’s stock-in-trade, and in Why the Law Is So Perverse, he focuses on four fundamental features of our legal system, all of which seem to not make sense on some level and to demand explanation. First, legal decisions are essentially made in an either/or fashion—guilty or not guilty, liable or not liable, either it’s a contract or it’s not—but reality is rarely as clear-cut. Why aren’t there any in-between verdicts? Second, the law is full of loopholes. No one seems to like them, but somehow they cannot be made to disappear. Why? Third, legal systems are loath to punish certain kinds of highly immoral conduct while prosecuting other far less pernicious behaviors. What makes a villainy a felony? Finally, why does the law often prohibit what are sometimes called win-win transactions, such as organ sales or surrogacy contracts?           Katz asserts that these perversions arise out of a cluster of logical difficulties related to multicriterial decision making. The discovery of these difficulties dates back to Condorcet’s eighteenth-century exploration of voting rules, which marked the beginning of what we know today as social choice theory. Condorcet’s voting cycles, Arrow’s Theorem, Sen’s Libertarian Paradox—every seeming perversity of the law turns out to be the counterpart of one of the many voting paradoxes that lie at the heart of social choice. Katz’s lucid explanations and apt examples show why they resist any easy resolutions.           The New York Times Book Review called Katz’s first book “a fascinating romp through the philosophical side of the law.” Why the Law Is So Perverse is sure to provide its readers a similar experience. 

This Understanding treatise provides authoritative and comprehensive explanations of major theories and leading cases covered in Conflict of Laws courses. A family law chapter includes substantial new material on federal legislative responses to the serious problem of child support enforcement. Understanding Conflict of Laws also includes a new section on cyberspace jurisdiction.

Check Register/Credit/Expense, 8-3/4 x 14-3/4, 40-Page Book / A combination checkbook and expense distribution journal. Eliminates check stub records and hand copying data into a separate journal, cutting rewrite time as much as 70%. Useful in computerized accounting as data entry or backup documentation. Form Type: Check Register; Format: 40-Page Book; Form Size (W x H): 14 3/4 in x 8 3/4 in; Sheet Size (W x H): 14 3/4 in x 8 3/4 in.

A refresher course on rights and personal freedom. What is your position on prostitution, pornography, gambling and other victimless crimes? This book will make readers consider their rights and the rights of others in a more humanistic and caring way. First serial to Playboy. (Prelude Press)