Legal Theory Blog |
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 All the theory that fits! Home This is Lawrence Solum's legal theory weblog. Legal Theory Blog comments and reports on recent scholarship in jurisprudence, law and philosophy, law and economic theory, and theoretical work in substantive areas, such as constitutional law, cyberlaw, procedure, criminal law, intellectual property, torts, contracts, etc. RSS Links for Legal Theory Blog --Lawrence B. Solum (My Homepage at the University of Illinois) --My College of Law Directory Page --My Philosophy Department Directory Page --Email me --Legal Theory Annex (All the theory that does not fit.) --Legal Theory Lexicon (Basic concepts in legal theory for first year law students.) --My Publications on SSRN Noteworthy Posts Hiring Trends at 18 "Top" American Law Schools 2005-06 Report on Law School Entry Level Hiring 2004-05 Report on Law School Entry Level Hiring 2003-04 Report on Entry Level Hiring Legal Theory Bookclub: Lessig's Free Culture Getting to Formalism Water Wells and MP3 Files: The Economics of Intellectual Property Do Humans Have Character Traits? Naturalistic Ethics The Case for Strong Stare Decisis, or Why Should Neoformalists Care About Precedent? Part I: The Three Step Argument Part II: Stare Decisis and the Ratchet Part III: Precedent and Principle Fear and Loathing in New Haven A Neoformalist Manifesto Understanding the Confirmation Wars: The Role of Political Ideology and Judicial Philosophy Breaking the Deadlock: Reflections on the Confirmation Wars Going Nuclear: The Constitutionality of Recess Appointments to Article III Courts Archives 09/01/2002 - 10/01/2002 01/01/2003 - 02/01/2003 02/01/2003 - 03/01/2003 03/01/2003 - 04/01/2003 04/01/2003 - 05/01/2003 05/01/2003 - 06/01/2003 06/01/2003 - 07/01/2003 07/01/2003 - 08/01/2003 08/01/2003 - 09/01/2003 09/01/2003 - 10/01/2003 10/01/2003 - 11/01/2003 11/01/2003 - 12/01/2003 12/01/2003 - 01/01/2004 01/01/2004 - 02/01/2004 02/01/2004 - 03/01/2004 03/01/2004 - 04/01/2004 04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004 05/01/2004 - 06/01/2004 06/01/2004 - 07/01/2004 07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004 08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004 09/01/2004 - 10/01/2004 10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004 11/01/2004 - 12/01/2004 12/01/2004 - 01/01/2005 01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005 02/01/2005 - 03/01/2005 03/01/2005 - 04/01/2005 04/01/2005 - 05/01/2005 05/01/2005 - 06/01/2005 06/01/2005 - 07/01/2005 07/01/2005 - 08/01/2005 08/01/2005 - 09/01/2005 09/01/2005 - 10/01/2005 10/01/2005 - 11/01/2005 11/01/2005 - 12/01/2005 12/01/2005 - 01/01/2006 01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006 02/01/2006 - 03/01/2006 03/01/2006 - 04/01/2006 04/01/2006 - 05/01/2006 05/01/2006 - 06/01/2006 06/01/2006 - 07/01/2006 07/01/2006 - 08/01/2006 03/01/2011 - 04/01/2011 Blogosphere New: --PrawfsBlog (Group BLog) --Balkinization (Jack Balkin) --Crescat Sententia (Group Blog) --Crooked Timber (Group Blog) --De Novo (Group Blog) --Desert Landscapes (Group Blog) --Discourse.Net (Michael Froomkin) --Displacement of Concepts (Group Blog) --Election Law (Rick Hasen) --Freedom to Tinker (Ed Felten) --The Garden of Forking Paths --How Appealing (Howard Bashman) --Instapundit (Glenn Reynolds) --Is That Legal? 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Journals Specializing in Legal Philosophy --American Journal of Jurisprudence --The Journal of Philosophy, Science, and Law --Law and Philosophy --Law and Social Inquiry --Legal Theory --Oxford Journal of Legal Studies Legal Theory Resources on the Web Entries from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy +Austin, John +justice, distributive +justice, as a virtue +legal philosophy, economic analysis of law +legal reasoning, interpretation and coherence +legal rights +liberalism +libertarianism +naturalism in legal philosophy +nature of law +nature of law, legal positivism +nature of law, pure theory of law +republicanism From the Oxford Handbook of Jurisprudence +Natural Law Theory: The Modern Tradition From the Oxford Handbook of Legal Studies +Law as an Autonomous Discipline From the Examined Life A Critical Introduction to Liberalism Papers & Articles +Virtue Jurisprudence Organizations +American Political Science Association(APSA) +American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy (ASPLP) +Association of American Law Schools(AALS) +Internationale Vereinigung fur Rechts und Sozialphilosophie(IVR) +Law and Society Association +Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) My Postal Address Lawrence B. Solum University of Illinois College of Law 504 East Pennsylvania Ave Champaign, IL 61820 USA 
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Friday, September 30, 2005
Friday Calendar
Vanderbilt Law: Andrew Martin, Washington University in St. Louis Political Science, "The Median Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, and Some Thoughts on the Roberts Court" Villanova Law: Teemu Ruskola, American University, Washington College of Law, "Canton Is Not Boston: The Invention of American Imperial Sovereignty in the Nineteenth Century" Yale Law, Economics, and Organizations: Professor Lawrence Katz, Harvard, Economics with Professor Jeffrey Kling, Princeton, Economics, Experimental Analysis of Neighborhood Effects. Call for Proposals: MPSA 2006
Call for Participation: Law & Society 2006
Conference Announcement: The Future of the Supreme Court
More on the Roberts Vote Check out Royce Carroll, Jeff Lewis, Keith Poole, and Howard Rosenthal's Predicting The Senate Vote on John Roberts, detailing their predictions of the Roberts vote (69-31) and discussing the variance with the actual 78-22 vote. Thursday, September 29, 2005
78-22
John Roberts Was Approved by the Senate, 78-22 Here is a report from the L.A. Times:
Why Did 22 Democrats Vote for Roberts There are many possible reasons, including: Thursday Calendar
Boston University Law: Jay Wexler, "Intelligent Design and the First Amendment: A Response" Brookyln Law School: Allison Danner, Vanderbilt, When Courts Make Law: How the International Criminal Tribunals Recast the Laws of War. Fordham University Law: Chris William Sanchirico, Professor of Law, Business & Public Policy, University of Pennsylvania Law School (Visiting Professor, New York University School of Law, Fall 2005), "Detection Avoidance". George Mason University Law: Maxwell Stearns , GMUSL and University of Maryland Visitor, Crops, Guns & Commerce: A Game Theoretical Critique of Gonzales v. Raich. University College London, Law: Professor Robert Reiner (LSE), ‘Law and Order: A 20:20 Vision’ University of Michigan, Law & Economics: Steve Shavell, Harvard, Specific Performance versus Damages for Breach of Contract: An Economic Analysis. University of Minnesota, Public Law Workshop: John Harrison, University of Virginia Law School, State Sovereign Immunity and Congress' Enforcement Powers University of Texas Law: Avery Katz, Columbia University Law School, "Is Electronic Contracting Different? Contract Law in the Information Age" Vanderbilt Law: Cary Coglianese, Harvard University - JFK School of Government, "The Impact of Judicial Review on Regulatory Policy: Reexamining NHTSA's Rulemaking Retreat" Yale Law, Economics, and Organizations: Professor Steve Raphael, University of California at Berkeley, Public Policy, The Effect of Male Incarceration Dynamics on AIDS Infection Rates Among Women & Men, co-authored with Rucker Johnson. Barros on Home as a Legal Concept Benjamin Barros (Widener Law School) has posted Home as a Legal Concept on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Call for Papers: Ethics and Demandingness
Blank on Fiction in Corporate Reogranization Josh Blank has posted Confronting Continuity: A Tradition of Fiction in Corporate Reorganizations (forthcoming Columbia Business Law Review) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Judicial Activism at Law & Society Weblog Check out Prolegomena to a Systems-Theoretical Theory of Judicial-Activism Claims over at Law & Society Weblog. Here's a taste:
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Wednesday Calendar
NYU Legal History: Chaim Saiman, Golieb Fellow, “Legal Theology: The Turn to Conceptualism in Nineteenth Century Jewish Law” Ohio State Law: Sarah R. Cole, Mediation Confidentiality: A Promise Unfulfilled? University of Alabama Law: Sheila Foster, Fordham University, The City as an Ecological Space. Durchslag on the Supreme Court & the Federalist Papers Melvyn R. Durchslag (Case Western Reserve University - School of Law) has posted The Supreme Court and the Federalist Papers: Is There Less Here than Meets the Eye? (William and mary Bill of Rights Journal, Vol. 14, No. 1, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Bainbridge Replies to Bebchuck on Shareholder Power Stephen M. Bainbridge (University of California, Los Angeles - School of Law) has posted Director Primacy and Shareholder Disempowerment (Harvard Law Review, Vol. 199, 2006) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Clark on Sarbox Robert Charles Clark (Harvard University - Harvard Law School) has posted Corporate Governance Changes in the Wake of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act: A Morality Tale for Policymakers Too on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Fairfield on Virtual Property Joshua Fairfield (Indiana University School of Law-Bloomington) has posted Virtual Property (Boston University Law Review, Vol. 85, 2005) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Rachlinski on Bottom-Up Lawmaking Jeffrey J. Rachlinski (Cornell Law School) has posted Bottom-Up Versus Top-Down Lawmaking (University of Chicago Law Review, Vol. 73, Summer 2006) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Winkler on Agency Costs & Campaign Finance Adam Winkler (University of California, Los Angeles - School of Law) has posted Other People's Money: Corporations, Agency Costs, and Campaign Finance Law (Georgetown Law Journal, Vol. 92, pp. 871-940, 2004) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Parry on Terrorism and the New Criminal Process John T. Parry (University of Pittsburgh School of Law) has posted Terrorism and the New Criminal Process on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Avraham & Kohler on Accident Law for Egalitarians Ronen Avraham and issa kohler-hausmann (Northwestern University - School of Law and Northwestern University - School of Law) have posted Accident Law for Egalitarians on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Call for Papers: Law & Humanities Junior Scholar Workshop
Tuesday Calendar
NYU Law, Econ & Politics Colloquium: David Law (University of San Diego), The Paradox of Omnipotence: Courts, Constitutions, and Commitments. Georgetown International Human Rights Colloquium: Jack L. Goldsmith III, Harvard Law School, "Sosa, Customary International Law, and Federal Common Law" Vanderbilt Law: Alfred Brophy, University of Alabama School of Law, "Reading the Great Constitutional Dream Book: African American Ideas About Equality in the Progressive Era" Call for Papers: Law & Economics in Greece
Monday, September 26, 2005
Whose Next? Lee Epstein and Jeffrey Segal have posted a list of the potential nominees for the O'Connor slot on Oxford University Press Blog. Here is a taste:
Call for Papers: Ethical Aspects of Risk
McGinnis on Foreign Law and Constitutional Interpretation John O. McGinnis (Northwestern) has posted Foreign to our Constitution (Northwestern University Law Review, 100th Anniversary Symposium) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Schultz on Copynorms & Jambands Mark Schultz (Southern Illinois) has posted Fear and Norms and Rock & Roll: What Jambands Can Teach Us about Persuading People to Obey Copyright Law on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Monday Calendar
Florida State Law: Michael Vandenbergh, Vanderbilt University Law School, Private Life of Public Law. George Washington Intellectual Property Series: Xuan-Thao Nguyen, Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, “Collateralizing Intellectual Property”. Georgetown Environmental Workshop Series: Richard Revesz, New York University School of Law, "The Law and Economics of New Source Review" Hofstra University Law: Robin Charlow, Hofstra University School of Law “The Elusive Meaning of Religious Equality”. NYU Law: Rob Sitkoff. Vanderbilt Law: Andrea Melis, University of Cagliari, Italy, Department of Economics, "Corporate Governance Failures: To What Extent is Parmalat a Particularly Italian Case?" Moral Instincts? Rebecca Saxe has a piece in the Boston Review, entitled Do the Right Thing: Cognitive science’s search for a common morality. Here's a taste:
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Legal Theory Calendar
Florida State Law: Michael Vandenbergh, Vanderbilt University Law School, Private Life of Public Law. George Washington Intellectual Property Series: Xuan-Thao Nguyen, Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, “Collateralizing Intellectual Property”. Georgetown Environmental Workshop Series: Richard Revesz, New York University School of Law, "The Law and Economics of New Source Review" Hofstra University Law: Robin Charlow, Hofstra University School of Law “The Elusive Meaning of Religious Equality”. NYU Law: Rob Sitkoff. Vanderbilt Law: Andrea Melis, University of Cagliari, Italy, Department of Economics, "Corporate Governance Failures: To What Extent is Parmalat a Particularly Italian Case?"
Georgetown International Human Rights Colloquium: Jack L. Goldsmith III, Harvard Law School, "Sosa, Customary International Law, and Federal Common Law" Vanderbilt Law: Alfred Brophy, University of Alabama School of Law, "Reading the Great Constitutional Dream Book: African American Ideas About Equality in the Progressive Era"
NYU Legal History: Chaim Saiman, Golieb Fellow, “Legal Theology: The Turn to Conceptualism in Nineteenth Century Jewish Law” Ohio State Law: Sarah R. Cole, Mediation Confidentiality: A Promise Unfulfilled? University of Alabama Law: Sheila Foster, Fordham University, The City as an Ecological Space.
Boston University Law: Jay Wexler, "Intelligent Design and the First Amendment: A Response" Brookyln Law School: Allison Danner, Vanderbilt, When Courts Make Law: How the International Criminal Tribunals Recast the Laws of War. Fordham University Law: Chris William Sanchirico, Professor of Law, Business & Public Policy, University of Pennsylvania Law School (Visiting Professor, New York University School of Law, Fall 2005), "Detection Avoidance". George Mason University Law: Maxwell Stearns , GMUSL and University of Maryland Visitor, Crops, Guns & Commerce: A Game Theoretical Critique of Gonzales v. Raich. University College London, Law: Professor Robert Reiner (LSE), ‘Law and Order: A 20:20 Vision’ University of Michigan, Law & Economics: Steve Shavell, Harvard, Specific Performance versus Damages for Breach of Contract: An Economic Analysis. University of Minnesota, Public Law Workshop: John Harrison, University of Virginia Law School, State Sovereign Immunity and Congress' Enforcement Powers University of Texas Law: Avery Katz, Columbia University Law School, "Is Electronic Contracting Different? Contract Law in the Information Age" Vanderbilt Law: Cary Coglianese, Harvard University - JFK School of Government, "The Impact of Judicial Review on Regulatory Policy: Reexamining NHTSA's Rulemaking Retreat" Yale Law, Economics, and Organizations: Professor Steve Raphael, University of California at Berkeley, Public Policy, The Effect of Male Incarceration Dynamics on AIDS Infection Rates Among Women & Men, co-authored with Rucker Johnson.
Vanderbilt Law: Andrew Martin, Washington University in St. Louis Political Science, "The Median Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, and Some Thoughts on the Roberts Court" Villanova Law: Teemu Ruskola, American University, Washington College of Law, "Canton Is Not Boston: The Invention of American Imperial Sovereignty in the Nineteenth Century" Yale Law, Economics, and Organizations: Professor Lawrence Katz, Harvard, Economics with Professor Jeffrey Kling, Princeton, Economics, Experimental Analysis of Neighborhood Effects. Legal Theory Lexicon: Holdings
Introduction It used to be the case that an endless investigation of the difference between holding and dictum was a central preoccupation of the first year of law school. Nowadays, depending on which law school you attend and which set of instructors you are assigned, it is perfectly conceivable that you might make it all the way to your second year, with only a vague sense of what the difference between "holding" and "dictum" really is. This is not an accident. The old-fashioned, but still powerful, distinction between the holding of a case, which has precedential effect, and mere obiter dicta, which have only persuasive effect, does not easily fit in the post-realist landscape of contemporary American legal thought. This installment of the Legal Theory Lexicon provides a brief tour of the concept of a holding, with a special emphasis on the ideas that are relevant to a first-year law student with a bent for legal theory. So here we go! Holding, Dicta, and Stare Decisis It may be obvious, but let's say it anyway. The notion of a "holding" is only relevant because of the doctrine of stare decisis or binding precedent. In common law systems, decisions have precedential effect. It is easy for lawyers--in the United States and other legal cultures descended from the English common-law system--to forget that this need not be the case: in civil law systems, court decisions do not create binding precedents! Given that court decisions set precedents, the question naturally arises: what is the precedential effect of a decision? The traditional answer to that question is that subsequent courts are bound to follow the holding of a decision, but they are not bound by mere dicta--statements that are "unnecessary to the decision." This is as good a place as any to mention that "dictum" is the singular (one unecessary statement) whereas the word "dicta" is the plural of dictum, meaning two or more such statements. Just a bit more about stare decisis So to understand the idea of a holding, you also must have a basic knowledge of the doctrine of stare decisis, which is just the fancy Latin phrase for "precedent." Here are some very basic points: Two Theories of Holdings In fact, there are two theories of what constitutes the holding of a case. One theory is associated with legal formalism, and the other with legal realism. Every law student should become familiar with these two theories! Once you master them, and have an ability to spot them in action, a huge amount of confusion will simply drop away. What was cloudy will become clear. So here they are: Conclusion The question, "What is the holding of such and such a case?," is inherently ambiguous. The idea of a holding is very much contested in contemporary legal theory. As a first-year law student, you will undoubtedly be searching for holdings. Here is my advice. Always look for at least two holdings when you read a case. First, look for the true ratio decidendi, the narrowest reasoning necessary to sustain the result. Be careful when you do this! Include only the legally salient aspects of the case! Second, look for the rule of law that you think the court is trying to announce. When you do this, be very sensitive to language that announces the intention of the court. "We hold that . . ." or the "The rule is . . ." are frequently giveaways as to the intentions of the court. And then you might compare the two holdings that emerge from these two inquries. Which is broader? Which is narrower? If you read subsequent cases that discuss this case, then you can ask a further question, "Which holding was recognized by subsequent courts as the the holding of the case?" If you are frequently reader of Legal Theory Blog, you will know that I am a proponent of the formalist view of stare decisis. If you would like to read more about why I think, this surf to my three part series: The Case for Strong Stare Decisis, or Why Should Neoformalists Care About Precedent? Part I: The Three Step Argument, Part II: Stare Decisis and the Ratchet, and Part III: Precedent and Principle. For past and future installments in the Legal Theory Lexicon series, you can surf here. Saturday, September 24, 2005
Legal Philosophy, Sociology, and Social Philosophy Check out the continuing debate between Nico Artzi and Dennis Patterson. If I might add a comment of my own, one of Artzi's point goes to the "armchair" sort of analysis that characterizes analytic philosophy in general and analytic jurisprudence in particular. I think most contemporary philosophers recognize the limitations of this approach, and it is fair to say that contemporary philosophy has entered a post-analytic phase. But I am much less convinced by Artzi's claim that the remedy is a turn to "social philosophy," with Habermas as an exemplar. I say this even though I am sympathetic to Habermas's project. There is much to be said for clarity and analytic precision, and a good deal of social philosophy in the continental tradition is obscure and (in my opinion) fuzzy. If this sort of thing interests you, the short exchange between Patterson and Artzi is worth a look. Legal Theory Bookworm The Legal Theory Bookworm recommends Law and Objectivity by Kent Greenawalt. Here's a blurb:
Download of the Week The Download of the Week is The Source of Blackstone's Intuition: Why We Think it Better to Free the Guilty than to Convict the Innocent by Sam Vermont. Here is the abstract:
Friday, September 23, 2005
Call for Papers: Duke Law Journal Conference on Katrina Duke Law Journal will be hosting a conference this March on the administrative law issues arising from Katrina. The call for papers is here: http://www.acsblog.org/DLJ.pdf. Friday Calendar
Washington & Lee Law School: Winnifred Fallers Sullivan, Senior Fellow, Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School, 57th John Randolph Tucker Lecture, “Comparing Religions, Legally.” Georgetown International Human Rights Colloquium: Ruti G. Teitel, New York Law School. Harvard Public Law, Kathleen Sullivan, Stanford. UCLA Law: Pierre Legrand, University of Paris Pantheon-Sorbonne, Comparative Legal Studies and the Matter of Authenticity: Looking at the US Supreme Court as Comparatist in Lawrence v. Texas University of Pennylvania Philosophy Colloquium: Kok-chor Tan, The Boundary of Justice, and the Justice of Boundaries. University of Texas Law: Brian Leiter, "Why Evolutionary Biology is (so far) Irrelevant to Law." Cancelled, To Be Rescheduled: University of Alabama School of Law: Ernest Young, University of Texas, The Volk of New Jersey? Sovereignty and Political Community in Europe and the United States. Book Announcement: On Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations by Samuel Fleischacker
Conference Announcement: Examining Folk Psychology
Conference Announcement:
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Thursday Calendar
Boston University School of Law: Dennis Patterson & Ari Afilalo (Rutgers University School of Law, Camden), "Statecraft, Trade and The Order of States". New-York Historical Society in Manhattan: Geoffrey Stone of the University of Chicago Law School, and Larry Kramer, Dean of Stanford Law School. University of Minnesota Public Law Workshop: Jim Chen, University of Minnesota Law School, The Death of the Regulatory Compact. George Mason Law: Hans-Bernd Schaefer, University of Hamburg and GMUSL Visitor, Law and Economics in Poor Countries: What Makes the Difference? Florida State Law: Anthony Sebok, Brooklyn Law School (Bridgeman) Punitive Damages: From Myth to Theory. Stanford Law & Economics: Laura Beny (University of Michigan Law School; Hoover Institution, 2005-06) "Reflections on the Diversity-Performance Nexus Among Elite American Law Firms: Toward a Theory of a Diversity Norm" University of Michigan Law & Economics: Sam Vermont, Michigan Humphrey Fellow, The Source of Blackstone's Intuition: Why We Think it Better to Free the Guilty than to Convict the Innocent. This is a fascinating paper, arguing that "Blackstone's intuition" is irrational and based on cognitive malfunctions. I may have more to say about this paper later. Yale Law Economics & Organizations: Professor Justin Wolfers, University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School, Using Markets to Inform Policy: The Case of the Iraq War. Conference Announcement
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Borgen on Norms & Transnational Tribunals Christopher Borgen has posted Transnational Tribunals and the Transmission of Norms: The Hegemony of Process on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Wednesday Calendar
NYU History: Serena Mayeri, Golieb Fellow, "The Strange Career of Jane Crow: Sex Segregation and the Transformation of Anti-Discrimination Discourse." Northwestern Law & Economics: Jonathan Klick, Jeffrey A. Stoops Professor of Law, Florida State University, "Abortion Access and Risky Sex Among Teens: Parental Involvement Laws and Sexually Transmitted Diseases" Villanova Law: Alafair Burke, Hofstra University School of Law, "Improving Prosecutorial Decision Making: Some Lessons of Cognitive Science" Google Print Lawsuit & Class Certification The New York Times reports on a potential class-action lawsuit filed by authors against Google Print in a story entitled Writers Sue Google, Accusing It of Copyright Violation. Here's a taste:
Conference Announcement: Justice & IP
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Roberts in His Own Words John Roberts in His Own Words is a handy dandy compilation of his statements during the confirmation process. Here is a taste, from the section on Roberts's views on stare decisis or precedent:
“[S]tare decisis is not an inexorable command. . . . At the same time, you always have to take into account the settled expectations that have grown up around the prior precedent. It is a jolt to the legal system to overrule a precedent, and that has to be taken into account, as well as the different expectations that have grown up around it.” (September 13) Book Announcement: Williams on Moralism and Realism in Political Argument
Tuesday Calendar
Lewis & Clark Law School: Lydia Loren, Lewis & Clark, Creative Commons: Licenses, Abandonments and a Semicommons of Creative Works. Gely & Caron on the Next Generation of Law School Rankings Rafael Gely and Paul Caron have posted Dead Poets and Academic Progenitors: The Next Generation of Law School Rankings on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Book Announcement: Athenian Legacies by Ober
Monday, September 19, 2005
Artzi & Patterson on the State of Jurisprudence Over at Law & Society Weblog, Nico Artzi has a post entitled What’s wrong with Jurisprudence?. The central claim is:
Of course, both law and morality are social phenomena, but Artzi realy produced no argument against utilization of the methods of moral philosophy in normative legal theory. One could try to make the case that morality is simply irrelevant to normative claims about criminal law, for example, But such a claim will be difficult to establish and it will require arguments, not bluster, to make the case. |