A distinguished and experienced appellate court judge, Richard A. Posner offers in this new book a unique and, to orthodox legal thinkers, a startling perspective on how judges and justices decide cases. When conventional legal materials enable judges to ascertain the true facts of a case and apply clear pre-existing legal rules to them, Posner argues, they do so straightforwardly; that is the domain of legalist reasoning. However, in non-routine cases, the conventional materials run out and judges are on their own, navigating uncharted seas with equipment consisting of experience, emotions, and often unconscious beliefs. In doing so, they take on a legislative role, though one that is confined by internal and external constraints, such as professional ethics, opinions of respected colleagues, and limitations imposed by other branches of government on freewheeling judicial discretion. Occasional legislators, judges are motivated by political considerations in a broad and sometimes a narrow sense of that term. In that open area, most American judges are legal pragmatists. Legal pragmatism is forward-looking and policy-based. It focuses on the consequences of a decision in both the short and the long term, rather than on its antecedent logic. Legal pragmatism so understood is really just a form of ordinary practical reasoning, rather than some special kind of legal reasoning. Supreme Court justices are uniquely free from the constraints on ordinary judges and uniquely tempted to engage in legislative forms of adjudication. More than any other court, the Supreme Court is best understood as a political court.
In this book, Richard A. Posner examines how judges go about making difficult decisions. Posner argues that they cannot rely on either logic or science, but must fall back on a grab bag of informal methods of reasoning that owe less than one might think to legal training and experience. -- Adapted from Amazon.com summary.
The most exciting development in legal thinking since World War II has been the growth of interdisciplinary legal studies. Judge Richard Posner has been a leader in this movement, and his new book explores its rapidly expanding frontier.
In this timely book which has a new Preface and Epilogue, Posner charts the decline of the public intellectual, a venerable institution that includes worthies from Socrates to John Dewey. 2 line illustrations.
Law and Literature is the only book-length treatment of a widely popular subject that is drawing considerable academic attention. Leading legal scholar Richard Posner believes that courses and scholarship in law and literature provide an attractive alternative to courses and scholarship in jurisprudence (philosophy of law), especially since the study of literature can assist lawyers and judges by sharpening their rhetorical skills. The revised edition features considerable new material, including a consideration of plagiarism as well as discussions of novels that grapple with issues very pertinent today, such as illegal immigration, global warming, bioterrorism, surveillance, artificial reproduction, and virtual reality. Posner also discusses the role of the law in popular literature, movies, and television.
What makes a great judge? How are reputations forged? Why do some reputations endure, while others crumble? And how can we know whether a reputation is fairly deserved? In this ambitious book, Richard Posner confronts these questions in the case of Benjamin Cardozo. The result is both a revealing portrait of one of the most influential legal minds of our century and a model for a new kind of study—a balanced, objective, critical assessment of a judicial career. "The present compact and unflaggingly interesting volume . . . is a full-bodied scholarly biography. . . .It is illuminating in itself, and will serve as a significant contribution."—Paul A. Freund, New York Times Book Review
Judges and legal scholars talk past one another, if they have any conversation at all. Academics criticize judicial decisions in theoretical terms, which leads many judges to dismiss academic discourse as divorced from reality. Richard Posner reflects on the causes and consequences of this widening gap and what can be done to close it.
A concise, lively, and bracing exploration of an issue bedeviling our cultural landscape–plagiarism in literature, academia, music, art, and film–by one of our most influential and controversial legal scholars. Best-selling novelists J. K. Rowling and Dan Brown, popular historians Doris Kearns Goodwin and Stephen Ambrose, Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree, first novelist Kaavya Viswanathan: all have rightly or wrongly been accused of plagiarism–theft of intellectual property–provoking widespread media punditry. But what exactly is plagiarism? How has the meaning of this notoriously ambiguous term changed over time as a consequence of historical and cultural transformations? Is the practice on the rise, or just more easily detectable by technological advances? How does the current market for expressive goods inform our own understanding of plagiarism? Is there really such a thing as “cryptomnesia,” the unconscious, unintentional appropriation of another’s work? What are the mysterious motives and curious excuses of plagiarists? What forms of punishment and absolution does this “sin” elicit? What is the good in certain types of plagiarism? Provocative, insightful, and extraordinary for its clarity and forthrightness, The Little Book of Plagiarism is an analytical tour de force in small, the work of “one of the top twenty legal thinkers in America” (Legal Affairs), a distinguished jurist renowned for his adventuresome intellect and daring iconoclasm.
Making a significant contribution to the theory of democracy, this reference maintains that the advantage of democracy is not that it is the rule of the wise or the good, but that it enables stability and orderly succession in government and limits the tendency of rulers to empower themselves to the disadvantage of the public.
Following up on his timely and well-received book, A Failure of Capitalism, Richard Posner steps back to take a longer view of the continuing crisis of democratic capitalism as the American and world economies crawl gradually back from the depths to which they had fallen in the autumn of 2008 and the winter of 2009. By means of a lucid narrative of the crisis and a series of analytical chapters pinpointing critical issues of economic collapse and gradual recovery, Posner helps non-technical readers understand business-cycle and financial economics, and financial and governmental institutions, practices, and transactions, while maintaining a neutrality impossible for persons professionally committed to one theory or another. He calls for fresh thinking about the business cycle that would build on the original ideas of Keynes. Central to these ideas is that of uncertainty as opposed to risk. Risk can be quantified and measured. Uncertainty cannot, and in this lies the inherent instability of a capitalist economy. As we emerge from the financial earthquake, a deficit aftershock rumbles. It is in reference to that potential aftershock, as well as to the government's stumbling efforts at financial regulatory reform, that Posner raises the question of the adequacy of our democratic institutions to the economic challenges heightened by the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. The crisis and the government's energetic response to it have enormously increased the national debt at the same time that structural defects in the American political system may make it impossible to pay down the debt by any means other than inflation or devaluation.
Economic Analysis of Law, Eighth Edition, written by the pioneer in law and economics analysis, Richard A. Posner, remains the classic text in its field. This lucid, comprehensive casebook covers every aspect of the economic analysis of the law, including the common law, public regulation of the market, business organizations and financial markets, the distribution of income and wealth, the legal process, and the Constitution and the federal system. The Eighth Edition has been substantially revised to take into account current events, including the continuing economic crisis, the re-emerging field of organization economics, and recent work by the author and others on judicial behavior. The this preeminent casebook continues to offer Coverage of the legal-economic perspective on all key areas, from common law to the constitution. Accessible, lucid, and user-friendly writing and organization: Non-quantitative approach does not assume or require prior knowledge of economics or mathematics Part and chapter organization are based on legal, not economic, concepts End-of-chapter sections reinforce and extend learning with problems and suggested further readings. The Eighth Edition has been updated and revised to reflect current economic realities: The continuing economic crisis, which began in September 2008, has led to a reexamination of some of the tenets of economics manifested in previous editions. These changes are found primarily in the following chapters: Chapter 1, The Nature of Economic Reasoning Chapter 13, The Choice Between Regulation and Common Law Chapter 14, Corporations, Secured and Unsecured Financing, Bankruptcy Chapter 15, Financial Markets In Chapter 14, Corporations, Secured and Unsecured Financing, Bankruptcy, changes have been incorporated based on the re-emerging field of organization economics. Substantial changes to reflect recent work by the author and others on judicial behavior are evident in Chapter 19, The Market, the Adversary System, and the Legislative Process as Methods of Resource Allocation. Significant changes have also been made in the following chapters: Chapter 3, Property Chapter 4, Contract Rights and Remedies Chapter 17, Taxation Chapter 21, Civil and Criminal Procedure
The 2000 Presidential election ended in a collision of history, law, and the courts. It produced a deadlock that dragged out the result for over a month, and consequences--real and imagined--that promise to drag on for years. In the first in-depth study of the election and its litigious aftermath, Judge Posner surveys the history and theory of American electoral law and practice, analyzes which Presidential candidate ''really'' won the popular vote in Florida, surveys the litigation that ensued, evaluates the courts, the lawyers, and the commentators, and ends with a blueprint for reforming our Presidential electoral practices. The book starts with an overview of the electoral process, including its history and guiding theories. It looks next at the Florida election itself, exploring which candidate ''really'' won and whether this is even a meaningful question. The focus then shifts to the complex litigation, both state and federal, provoked by the photo finish. On the basis of the pragmatic jurisprudence that Judge Posner has articulated and defended in his previous writings, this book offers an alternative justification for the Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore while praising the Court for averting the chaotic consequences of an unresolved deadlock. Posner also evaluates the performance of the lawyers who conducted the post-election litigation and of the academics who commented on the unfolding drama. He argues that neither Gore's nor Bush's lawyers blundered seriously, but that the reaction of the legal professoriat to the litigation exposed serious flaws in the academic practice of constitutional law. While rejecting such radical moves as abolishing the Electoral College or creating a national ballot, Posner concludes with a detailed plan of feasible reforms designed to avoid a repetition of the 2000 election fiasco. Lawyers, political scientists, pundits, and politicians are waiting to hear what Judge Posner has to say. But this book is written for and will be welcomed by all who were riveted by the recent crisis of presidential succession.
Drawing on economic and political theory, legal analysis, and his own extensive judicial experience, Posner sketches the history of the federal courts, describes the contemporary institution, appraises concerns that have been expressed with their performance, and presents a variety of proposals for both short-term and fundamental reform.
This book takes a fresh look at the most dynamic area of American law today, comprising the fields of copyright, patent, trademark, trade secrecy, publicity rights, and misappropriation. It demonstrates the fundamental economic rationality of intellectual property law, but is sympathetic to critics who believe that IP rights have gone too far.
A summary of the author's charitable organization, Justice for Pro Se's, "which provides legal assistance and guidance to pro se's, i.e., litigants who either can't afford to hire lawyers or want to represent themselves in any legal disputes that they became involved in."--Publisher.
In a book written while the events were unfolding, Richard Posner presents a balanced and scholarly understanding of President Clinton's year of crisis which began when his affair with Monica Lewinsky hit the front pages in January 1998. With the freshness and immediacy of journalism, Posner clarifies the issues involved, carefully assesses the conduct of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, and examines the pros and cons of impeaching President Clinton as well as the major procedural issues raised by both the impeachment in the House and the trial in the Senate. This book, reflecting the breadth of Posner's experience and expertise, will be the essential foundation for anyone who wants to understand President Clinton's impeachment ordeal.
Judge Richard A. Posner's work on the economics of public law is a critical component of the interaction between the new law and economics movement and public choice theory. It exemplifies the parallel influence that these two important intellectual movements have had on the current understanding of legal institutions. Together with an insightful introduction by Francesco Parisi, this volume brings together his most important contributions on areas such as: * the economics of constitutional law and legislation * the economics of criminal law * the economics of labour law and employment discrimination * the economics of antitrust.
The traditional definition of torts involves bizarre, idiosyncratic events where a single plaintiff with a physical impairment sues the specific defendant he believes to have wrongfully caused that malady. Yet public attention has focused increasingly on mass personal-injury lawsuits over asbestos, cigarettes, guns, the diet drug fen-phen, breast implants, and, most recently, Vioxx. Richard A. Nagareda’s Mass Torts in a World of Settlement is the first attempt to analyze the lawyer’s role in this world of high-stakes, multibillion-dollar litigation. These mass settlements, Nagareda argues, have transformed the legal system so acutely that rival teams of lawyers operate as sophisticated governing powers rather than litigators. His controversial solution is the replacement of the existing tort system with a private administrative framework to address both current and future claims. This book is a must-read for concerned citizens, policymakers, lawyers, investors, and executives grappling with the changing face of mass torts.
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