Law’s Quandary

Law’s Quandary PDF Author: Steven D. Smith
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674043820
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 223

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Book Description
This lively book reassesses a century of jurisprudential thought from a fresh perspective, and points to a malaise that currently afflicts not only legal theory but law in general. Steven Smith argues that our legal vocabulary and methods of reasoning presuppose classical ontological commitments that were explicitly articulated by thinkers from Aquinas to Coke to Blackstone, and even by Joseph Story. But these commitments are out of sync with the world view that prevails today in academic and professional thinking. So our law-talk thus degenerates into "just words"--or a kind of nonsense. The diagnosis is similar to that offered by Holmes, the Legal Realists, and other critics over the past century, except that these critics assumed that the older ontological commitments were dead, or at least on their way to extinction; so their aim was to purge legal discourse of what they saw as an archaic and fading metaphysics. Smith's argument starts with essentially the same metaphysical predicament but moves in the opposite direction. Instead of avoiding or marginalizing the "ultimate questions," he argues that we need to face up to them and consider their implications for law.

Law’s Quandary

Law’s Quandary PDF Author: Steven D. Smith
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674043820
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 223

Get Book Here

Book Description
This lively book reassesses a century of jurisprudential thought from a fresh perspective, and points to a malaise that currently afflicts not only legal theory but law in general. Steven Smith argues that our legal vocabulary and methods of reasoning presuppose classical ontological commitments that were explicitly articulated by thinkers from Aquinas to Coke to Blackstone, and even by Joseph Story. But these commitments are out of sync with the world view that prevails today in academic and professional thinking. So our law-talk thus degenerates into "just words"--or a kind of nonsense. The diagnosis is similar to that offered by Holmes, the Legal Realists, and other critics over the past century, except that these critics assumed that the older ontological commitments were dead, or at least on their way to extinction; so their aim was to purge legal discourse of what they saw as an archaic and fading metaphysics. Smith's argument starts with essentially the same metaphysical predicament but moves in the opposite direction. Instead of avoiding or marginalizing the "ultimate questions," he argues that we need to face up to them and consider their implications for law.

Smith's Law Journal

Smith's Law Journal PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 516

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Book Description


The Western Law Journal

The Western Law Journal PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 590

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Book Description


Judicial Review in an Objective Legal System

Judicial Review in an Objective Legal System PDF Author: Tara Smith
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107114497
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 303

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Book Description
This book grounds judicial review in its deepest foundations: the function, authority, and objectivity of a legal system as a whole.

Case of a Lifetime

Case of a Lifetime PDF Author: Abbe Smith
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 023061387X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
A recent study estimates that thousands of innocent people are wrongfully imprisoned each year in the United States. Some are exonerated through DNA evidence, but many more languish in prison because their convictions were based on faulty eyewitness accounts and no DNA is available. Prominent criminal lawyer and law professor Abbe Smith weaves together real life cases to show what it is like to champion the rights of the accused. Smith describes the moral and ethical dilemmas of representing the guilty and the weighty burden of fighting for the innocent, including the victorious story of how she helped free a woman wrongly imprisoned for nearly three decades. For fans of Law and Order and investigative news programs like 20/20, Case of a Lifetime is a chilling look at what really determines a person's innocence.

Justice and the Poor

Justice and the Poor PDF Author: Reginald Heber Smith
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description


Sustaining the Law

Sustaining the Law PDF Author: Gordon A. Madsen
Publisher: Byu Studies
ISBN: 9781938896705
Category : Mormons
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Eleven legal scholars analyze Joseph Smith's legal encounters that included more than two hundred suits in the courts of New York, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and elsewhere. Topics cover constitutional law, copyright, disorderly conduct, association, assault, marriage, banking, land preemptive rights, treason, municipal charters, bankruptcy, guardianship, habeas corpus, adultery, and freedom of the press. A 53-page legal chronology presents key information about Joseph's life in the law. An appendix provides biographies of sixty lawyers and judges with whom he was involved, some being the best legal minds of his day.

Smith's Review of Conflicts of Laws for Law School and State Bar Examinations

Smith's Review of Conflicts of Laws for Law School and State Bar Examinations PDF Author: Chester Howard Smith
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Conflict of laws
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description


Equal Justice

Equal Justice PDF Author: Frederick Wilmot-Smith
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674243730
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
A philosophical and legal argument for equal access to good lawyers and other legal resources. Should your risk of wrongful conviction depend on your wealth? We wouldn’t dream of passing a law to that effect, but our legal system, which permits the rich to buy the best lawyers, enables wealth to affect legal outcomes. Clearly justice depends not only on the substance of laws but also on the system that administers them. In Equal Justice, Frederick Wilmot-Smith offers an account of a topic neglected in theory and undermined in practice: justice in legal institutions. He argues that the benefits and burdens of legal systems should be shared equally and that divergences from equality must issue from a fair procedure. He also considers how the ideal of equal justice might be made a reality. Least controversially, legal resources must sometimes be granted to those who cannot afford them. More radically, we may need to rethink the centrality of the market to legal systems. Markets in legal resources entrench pre-existing inequalities, allocate injustice to those without means, and enable the rich to escape the law’s demands. None of this can be justified. Many people think that markets in health care are unjust; it may be time to think of legal services in the same way.

Law and the Invisible Hand

Law and the Invisible Hand PDF Author: Robin Paul Malloy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108874606
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
A contemporary interpretation of Adam Smith's work on jurisprudence, revealing Smith's belief that progress emerges from cooperation and a commitment to justice. In Smith's theory, the tension between self–interest and the interests of others is mediated by law, so that the common interest of the community can be promoted. Moreover, Smith informs us that successful societies do at least three things well. They promote the common interest, advance justice through the rule of law, and they facilitate our natural desire to truck, barter, and exchange. In this process, law functions as an invisible force that holds society together and keeps it operating smoothly and productively. Law enhances social cooperation, facilitates trade, and extends the market. In these ways, law functions like Adam Smith's invisible hand, guiding and facilitating the progress of humankind.