Some of the most basic doctrines of property law are very old, many dating to the medieval era. How can legal rules that were born so long ago remain viable today? In Reappraisals in the Law of Property, author John V. Orth considers various topics in order to discover the forces that have been made and are continuing to remake these areas of the law. Orth proposes three forces in particular that have shaped the development of property law over time: the inertial force of tradition, the reforming power of judicial and legislative activism, and the constant challenge of academic criticism. Together, these themes form the foundation of a critical and challenging work, one that re-evaluates property law and demonstrates both its enduring consistency and the unique and often drastic ways in which it has evolved in the modern era.
North Carolina's state constitution charts the evolution over two centuries of a modern representative democracy. In The North Carolina State Constitution, John V. Orth and Paul M. Newby provide an outstanding constitutional and historical account of the state's governing charter. In addition to an overview of North Carolina's constitutional history, it provides an in-depth, section-by-section analysis of the entire constitution, detailing the many significant changes that have been made since its initial drafting. This treatment, along with a table of cases, index, and bibliography provides an unsurpassed reference guide for students, scholars, and practitioners of North Carolina's constitution. Co-authored by Paul M. Newby, a sitting justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, the second edition includes significant constitutional amendments adopted since the date of the first edition. Almost every article was affected by the changes. Some were minor-such as the lengthening the term of magistrates-and some were more significant, such as spelling out the rights of victims of crimes. One was obviously major: granting the governor the power to veto legislation-making North Carolina's governor the last American governor to be given that power. In addition, the North Carolina Supreme Court has continued the seemingly never-ending process of constitutional interpretation. Some judicial decisions answered fairly routine questions about the powers of office, such as the governor's clemency power. Others were politically contentious, such as deciding the constitutional constraints on legislative redistricting. And one continues to have momentous consequences for public education, recognizing the state's constitutional duty to provide every school child in North Carolina with a "sound, basic education." The Oxford Commentaries on the State Constitutions of the United States is an important series that reflects a renewed international interest in constitutional history and provides expert insight into each of the 50 state constitutions. Each volume in this innovative series contains a historical overview of the state's constitutional development, a section-by-section analysis of its current constitution, and a comprehensive guide to further research. Under the expert editorship of Professor G. Alan Tarr, Director of the Center on State Constitutional Studies at Rutgers University, this series provides essential reference tools for understanding state constitutional law. Books in the series can be purchased individually or as part of a complete set, giving readers unmatched access to these important political documents.
This book restores to view a masterpiece of beauty and legal scholarship, which has been lost for almost two hundred years. Produced anonymously in 1838, The Tree of Legal Knowledge is an elaborate visualization in five large colored plates of the law as stated in Sir William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England. Intended as “an assistant for students in the study of law,” the study aid was not a simple diagram but a beautiful tree with each branch and twig labeled with legal terms and concepts from the Commentaries. Not for law students only, the original was also intended to be of use to the practicing attorney and educated gentleman “in consolidating his learning and forming an instructive and ornamental appendage to an office.” Although Blackstone’s Commentaries had been first published eighty years earlier, it remained the primary source for knowledge of English law and required reading for American law students. The Commentaries remain relevant today and are frequently cited by the U.S. Supreme Court as a source for the original understanding of legal rights and obligations at the time of American Independence. Despite its artistic beauty and academic significance, The Tree of Legal Knowledge had seemingly disappeared shortly after its publication. It is not included in the collection of any library, including the Library of Congress or in Yale University’s Blackstone Collection, the largest in the world. It is not listed in the comprehensive Bibliographical Catalog of William Blackstone, edited by Ann Jordan Laeuchli, published for the Yale Law Library in 2015. The present volume reproduces the only extant copy of The Tree of Legal Knowledge. It includes an introduction by the editor that places The Tree in historical context and identifies the anonymous author, an otherwise unknown lawyer. In addition, it reprints the original author’s introduction and “explanation of the branches,” both extensively annotated. This book restores this lost masterpiece to its proper place in legal history. The Tree is a beautiful—and accurate—depiction of English law as expounded in Blackstone’s Commentaries, the single most important book in the history of the common law.
In The North Carolina State Constitution, originally published in 1993, John Orth provides a definitive study of the historical context and significant features of each of the state's three successive constitutions. The book begins with a
The Eleventh Amendment is one of the most obscure and sharply debated parts of the United States Constitution. The interpretation of this seeminly simple clause has troubled the Supreme Court at crucial periods in American history, and continues to excite sharp debate in the Court today. John V. Orth reconstructs the fascinating but little-known past of the Eleventh Amendment and connects it to pressing modern issues to provide new insight into the history of judicial interpretation.
Although less than fifty words long, the meaning of the seemingly simple Eleventh Amendment has troubled the Supreme Court at crucial points in American history and continues to spur sharp debate in present-day courts. The first amendment adopted after the Bill of Rights, the Eleventh Amendment limits the exercise of U.S. judicial power when American states are sued. Its modern meaning was largely shaped around cases concerning the liability of Southern states to pay their debts during and after Reconstruction; by shielding states from liability, the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Eleventh Amendment eased the establishment of post-Reconstruction Southern society and left a maddeningly complicated law of federal jurisdiction. Here, Orth reconstructs the fascinating but obscure history of the Eleventh Amendment--the labyrinth of legal doctrine, the economic motives and consequences, the political context, and the legacy of the past--over the last two centuries. Using quotes from Wordsworth, Shaw, Mark Twain, Margaret Mitchell, and other writers to clarify and invigorate his narrative, Orth finally makes accessible an important but complex slice of constitutional history.
Some of the most basic doctrines of property law are very old, many dating to the medieval era. How can legal rules that were born so long ago remain viable today? In Reappraisals in the Law of Property, author John V. Orth considers various topics in order to discover the forces that have been made and are continuing to remake these areas of the law. Orth proposes three forces in particular that have shaped the development of property law over time: the inertial force of tradition, the reforming power of judicial and legislative activism, and the constant challenge of academic criticism. Together, these themes form the foundation of a critical and challenging work, one that re-evaluates property law and demonstrates both its enduring consistency and the unique and often drastic ways in which it has evolved in the modern era.
In The North Carolina State Constitution, originally published in 1993, John Orth provides a definitive study of the historical context and significant features of each of the state's three successive constitutions. The book begins with a
This book restores to view a masterpiece of beauty and legal scholarship, which has been lost for almost two hundred years. Produced anonymously in 1838, The Tree of Legal Knowledge is an elaborate visualization in five large colored plates of the law as stated in Sir William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England. Intended as “an assistant for students in the study of law,” the study aid was not a simple diagram but a beautiful tree with each branch and twig labeled with legal terms and concepts from the Commentaries. Not for law students only, the original was also intended to be of use to the practicing attorney and educated gentleman “in consolidating his learning and forming an instructive and ornamental appendage to an office.” Although Blackstone’s Commentaries had been first published eighty years earlier, it remained the primary source for knowledge of English law and required reading for American law students. The Commentaries remain relevant today and are frequently cited by the U.S. Supreme Court as a source for the original understanding of legal rights and obligations at the time of American Independence. Despite its artistic beauty and academic significance, The Tree of Legal Knowledge had seemingly disappeared shortly after its publication. It is not included in the collection of any library, including the Library of Congress or in Yale University’s Blackstone Collection, the largest in the world. It is not listed in the comprehensive Bibliographical Catalog of William Blackstone, edited by Ann Jordan Laeuchli, published for the Yale Law Library in 2015. The present volume reproduces the only extant copy of The Tree of Legal Knowledge. It includes an introduction by the editor that places The Tree in historical context and identifies the anonymous author, an otherwise unknown lawyer. In addition, it reprints the original author’s introduction and “explanation of the branches,” both extensively annotated. This book restores this lost masterpiece to its proper place in legal history. The Tree is a beautiful—and accurate—depiction of English law as expounded in Blackstone’s Commentaries, the single most important book in the history of the common law.
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