Legal Theory Blog
3 days ago · Leah Trueblood (Worcester College) has posted Public Functions of Political Parties in the United Kingdom on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Political parties are both private and public bodies. Some actions of political parties must be categorised as private to protect freedom of speech and association.
Legal Theory Lexicon 071: The New Originalism
Jun 5, 2022 · Introduction Most law students will encounter “originalism” in their first course in constitutional law. Depending on the instructor, this encounter could be quite short or very extensive. Most law students will know that originalist constitutional theory is …
Issue #2 of "Originalist Angles" - Legal Theory Blog
Jul 11, 2023 · Originalist Angles Issue II: Constitutional Structure has now been published. This remarkable project consists of originalist scholarship researched, written, and edited entirely by high school students.
Legal Theory Blog: Legal Theory Lexicon: Textualism
Sep 5, 2021 · Introduction One of the most important topics in legal theory is “legal interpretation,” which deals with the derivation of meaning from legal texts. Of course, legal interpretation is a very large topic, with several different dimensions and approaches. This post...
Legal Theory Lexicon: Legal Theory Lexicon 019: Originalism
Introduction There are many different theories of constitutional interpretation, but the most controversial and also perhaps the most influential is "originalism." Originalism is actually a family of constitutional theories, but two ideas are common to almost all versions of originalism....
Legal Theory Lexicon
Introduction. Law students soon learn that the interpretation of legal texts is one of the most important things that lawyers and judges do. In a previous Legal Theory Lexicon entry, a distinction was made between "interpretation" and "construction." Although we could use other words to express the distinction, it expresses an important conceptual difference between …
Downloads of the Year 2022 - Legal Theory Blog
Here are ten of my favorite papers from 2022: Data Property by James Grimmelmann & Christina Mulligan. Demonizing Our Sisters Through Epistemic Oppression by Yvette Butler. The Major Questions Quartet by Mila Sohoni. The Misunderstood History of Textualism by Tara Leigh Grove. Reasons Holism and the Shared View of Precedent by Torben Spaak "Ruined" by …
Legal Theory Blog
Jan 11, 2025 · Wilkinson‐Ryan, Hoffman, & Campbell on Contract Experiences of Ordinary Folk. Tess Wilkinson‐Ryan (University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School), David A. Hoffman (University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School), & Emily Campbell (University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School) have posted Contracts for Everyone on SSRN.
Legal Theory Lexicon: The Priority of the Particular
Mar 10, 2024 · Introduction One kind of legal theory attempts to relate the mass of legal materials (cases, clauses, statutes, etc.) to a systematic set of principles. Such theories may be normative: that is, some legal theories are frameworks for the prescriptive evaluation...
Legal Theory Blog: Legal Theory Lexicon: Discretion
Oct 23, 2022 · Introduction. Law students are likely to encounter the concept of discretion early in the first year of law school. Judges make decisions. Some of these decisions are constrained by law, but others are made in contexts in which the law permits the …