Legal scholarship has been under sharp attack, particularly when it comes to the role some believe it should play in support of the legal profession. In recent remarks, Chief Justice John Roberts explained that he does not pay much attention to it, reportedly stating that legal scholarship is not “particularly… Read More »
“Get off the motorcycle! Get off the motorcycle! Get off the motorcycle! State Police . . . put your hands up!” off-duty Maryland State Trooper J.D. Uhler yelled as he jumped out of his car, pulled out his gun, and ran towards motorcyclist Anthony Graber. Trooper Uhler exited his personal vehicle wearing street clothes… Read More »
Every crime consists of an illegal act committed with a guilty mind. Proving the act alone is rarely enough because the law typically does not criminalize accidents. Yet while the distinction between accidents and non-accidents seems straightforward, punishing the “guilty mind”—as students quickly learn and practicing attorneys well know—is much… Read More »
On July 7, 2010, Los Angeles police arrested a suspect in the Grim Sleeper murders, so-called because of a decade-long series of break-in killings. The critical lead in the case: a genetic profile in the state’s DNA database that was similar, but not identical, to the killer’s DNA. The partial… Read More »
I.
Ordinary people take countless measures to avoid being searched by police or other government agents. To get an inkling of how frequently the innocent alter their behavior, consider the responses of law-abiding people to recently enacted counterterrorism programs. When faced with delays and discomfort caused by more rigorous baggage… Read More »
The article reports the results of an empirical study conducted with respect to the appellate jurisdiction of the Israeli Supreme Court (hereinafter “ISC”). The ISC sits atop a high-quality common law system and functions as an appellate court for district court rulings. Cases in which the district court has original jurisdiction—particularly,… Read More »
More than five years have passed since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, yet images from Katrina’s aftermath continue to haunt the American mind. Many of the most shocking and disturbing images that remain with us today are not from photographs or news footage, but images constructed and seared in… Read More »
In 2009, a 15-year-old student from Richmond, California left her homecoming dance to join a drinking session on school property. She quickly became intoxicated and, over the next two hours, was attacked by as many as ten assailants who “laughed and took photos as they took turns” raping her. Police… Read More »
The past half-century has seen a continuing debate between “retributivists,” who view deserved punishment as a value in itself that does not require further justification, and “instrumentalists,” who view punishment as justified only if it brings about a greater good—typically the avoidance of future crime. That avoidance of crime has… Read More »
Introduction
In this Editorial we focus our attention on two concerns for Law and Economics (LE). The first relates to commensurability and the second focuses on agency. Both concerns are central to LE. The first concern questions the dominant method LE uses for making substantive decisions. The second concern challenges… Read More »