Saving the Constitution from lawyers : how legal training and law reviews distort constitutional meaning / Robert J. Spitzer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Spitzer, Robert J., 1953- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Constitutional law--United States.

Constitutional law.

United States.

Lawyers--Training of--United States.

Lawyers.

Lawyers--Training of.

United States. Constitution.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ix, 195 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2008.

System Details:

text file

PDF

Summary:

This book is a sweeping indictment of the legal profession in the realm of constitutional interpretation. The adversarial, advocacy-based American legal system is well suited to American justice, in which one-sided arguments collide to produce a just outcome. But when applied to constitutional theorizing, the result is selective analysis, overheated rhetoric, distorted facts, and overstated conclusions. Such wayward theorizing finds its way into print in the nation's over 600 law journals - professional publications run by law students, not faculty or other professionals - and peer review is almost never used to evaluate worthiness. The consequences of this system are examined through three timely cases: the presidential veto, the 'unitary theory' of the president's commander-in-chief power, and the Second Amendment's 'right to bear arms'. In each case, law reviews were the breeding ground for defective theories that won false legitimacy and political currency. This book concludes with recommendations for reform.

Contents:

1. The logic, and illogic, of law; 2. The law journal breeding ground; 3. The inherent item veto; 4. The unitary executive and the commander-in-chief power; 5. The second amendment; 6. Conclusion.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Other Format:

Print version:

ISBN:

9781139167512

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.