Faculty Books & Edited Works

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  Benjamin Constant and the Making of Modern Liberalism

  Stephen Holmes

  An active participant in political struggles as well as a theorist of exceptional psychological subtlety, Benjamin Constant helped reshape and revivify Enlightenment liberalism in the aftermath of the French Revolution. Properly situated in their historical context, his writings and speeches are a rich source of insight into the dilemmas of freedom in modern society. Stephen Holmes's book is a splendid historical study of Constant and an original contribution to the current debate about liberalism. According to Holmes, Constant is the political thinker who most incisively challenged the romantic "appeal to antiquity" - the idea that the Greek polis should be the standard by which modern societies are evaluated. Shocked by the Terror, Constant argued that the old res publica conception of politics might easily serve to overlegitimate a bureaucratic agency with police powers. His theories call into question the myth of the irreconcilable conflict between liberalism and democracy even while drawing attention to important distinctions between ancient and modern liberty and between traditional despotism and pseudodemocratic dictatorship.

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  Human Rights in International Law: Legal and Policy Issues

  Theodor Meron

  The object of this book is to provide teachers and students not only with a textbook dealing with the principal topics in the field of human rights, but also with teaching suggestions, syllabuses, bibliographies, and case studies.

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  Civil Litigation in New York

  Oscar G. Chase

  Civil litigation in New York is complex and demanding. It calls on such advocacy skills as oral argument, brief writing and cross-examination, but even more does it demand familiarity with the “law” of litigation. The purpose of this book is to help you learn that law in the context in which an advocate must apply it. We hope that you will not only become familiar with the rules of New York practice but that you will develop a sense of how they can be creatively applied. To that end we have included in each chapter litigation problems which are designed to help you put the law into a practical perspective. The problems are based on realistic situations (sometimes on actual cases) and therefore raise the sorts of difficult issues which can arise in the course of any action. Usually, you will find that we have presented the problem prior to the material which bears on it. This will hopefully make the material less abstract and more involving. Many of the problems do not have a single answer which is correct in an absolute sense. As with most legal issues there are various possible solutions, each with its own supporting arguments. Please approach them in that spirit. In keeping with its purposes, the book is organized roughly along the path litigation normally takes, starting with the rules governing the choice of forum. Since there is no route which all lawsuits must follow, and since there are some rules of litigation (e.g., those governing motion practice) which are relevant to several stages of a lawsuit, you should not take the linear organization we have adopted as exemplifying all lawsuits or as an approach you would always follow in practice. Use it, rather, to gain and keep a general sense of litigation as a process with a beginning, middle and clearly defined goal. The variety of paths litigation can take brings us to another point about the study of it. The flexibility of modern civil procedure, including that of New York, allows and therefore requires the lawyer to make frequent tactical choices. Should one make a particular motion? Obtain a provisional remedy? Seek discovery? If so, what kind? How should the pleading be drafted? It is our view that an effective advocate knows what the ethical choices are in every situation and dose his or her best to pick the alternative which will maximize the client’s chances of success. Thus, as you read the cases and problems which follow, we urge you to think about and evaluate the choices that the litigants made. The management of litigation system in pursuit of success is not the only challenge to the student or attorney. Equally fulfilling, if not more so, is participation in the ongoing effort to reform and improve the system. This book goes to press during a period of widespread criticism of civil litigation as a method of resolve disputes. How the system can and should be changed in response to its critics is therefore a particularly timely issue now; there is no doubt that the search for improvement will continue during the professional lifetime of today’s student. Thus, these materials frequently encourage you to step back from the process and ask “How can we make this better?”

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  The Power to Punish: Contemporary Penality and Social Analysis

  David W. Garland and Peter Young

  The nine essays in this volume develop and use a new mode of analyzing punishment and penal control. They explore both the social and political significance of penal sanctions and their relationship to power, the social structure, and social change.

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  Criminal Law and Its Processes: Cases and Materials

  Sanford H. Kadish, Stephen J. Schulhofer, and Monrad G. Paulsen

  Prior edition of Criminal Law and Its Processes: Cases and Materials

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  Intellectual Property: Patents, Trademarks, and Copyright in a Nutshell

  Arthur R. Miller and Michael H. Davis

  Study aid on copyright, patents and trademark.

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  Free Enterprise and Economic Organization: Antitrust

  Louis B. Schwartz, John J. Flynn, and Harry First

  This casebook provides detailed information on antitrust. The casebook provides the tools for fast, easy, on-point research. Part of the University Casebook Series®, it includes selected cases designed to illustrate the development of a body of law on a particular subject. Text and explanatory materials designed for law study accompany the cases.

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  Problems in Antitrust

  Louis B. Schwartz, John J. Flynn, and Harry First

  The problems in this book were originally designed for use with our casebook, Free enterprise and economic organization: antitrust (6th edition, 1983).

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  Accounting and Financial Disclosure: A Guide to Basic Concepts

  Stanley Siegel and David A. Siegel

  Accounting has been called the language of business, the medium of communication by which enterprises of all forms report on their performance and status to investors, creditors, government and the general public. Knowledge of accounting is essential in order to understand the financial reports of enterprises because, like other languages, it loses much in translation. But accounting is more than merely a language; it is also a profession, a process and a powerful analytical tool. Therefore no single text can hope to train its readers to be accountants, and this text makes no attempt to achieve that result. Nevertheless, our object is ambitious. We seek nothing less than to make our readers fluent in accounting: familiar with its vocabulary, conversant with the structure and meaning of financial information and aware of the strengths and limitations of the accounting process. We have intentionally avoided the traditional textbook emphasis on the mechanical aspects of bookkeeping. Indeed, the fifteen chapter of this book contain the terms debit and credit in only a single paragraph. However, we have provided an appendix for readers who wish to study the elements of bookkeeping, from original entry of financial transactions through closing of the books and preparation of financial statements. This text brings together the central themes of accounting, beginning with the fundamental structure of the financial statements and professing though the major elements of accounting theory. We have included detailed discussion of the areas critical to income determination, including inventories and depreciation. Chapters are devoted to analysis of financial statements and cash flow. The subject of reliability of financial information is introduced in a chapter on auditing and is further examined in a chapter on accountants’ liabilities. Since accounting has relevance to the activities of all businesses and professions, we have attempted to be universal in our discussion. The chapters that deal with legal matters are therefore important not only to lawyers and law students, but to all readers who wish to understand the setting in which financial statements are issued and used. Throughout the text, we have sought to answer the questions that are usually asked by readers of financial statements. For example, the effects of inflation are the subject of an entire chapter, as are the problems of income tax accounting. Wherever possible, we have avoided over-simplification. As a result, some sections will prove to be challenging reading. We have also avoided unnecessary detail. Our approach is expository; with rare exceptions we have left reference materials for the end of each chapter, rather than interrupting the discussion with citations and footnotes. This text is designed for use by students and professionals alike. It may be used as a principal or supplementary text for courses in accounting, or as a supplement to courses on business associations, taxation, finance and business planning. It should also be helpful to attorneys and other professionals who wish to learn accounting independently. We hope that this book will provide to its readers a broad understanding of the processes of financial reporting and the uses and limitations of accounting.

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  Agency, Associations, Employment, and Partnerships: Cases, Statutes and Analysis

  Alfred F. Conard, Robert L. Knauss, and Stanley Siegel

  Prior edition of Agency, Associations, Employment, and Partnerships: Cases, Statutes and Analysis.

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  Enterprise Organization: Cases, Statutes, and Analysis on Licensing, Employment, Agency, Partnerships, Associations, and Corporations

  Alfred F. Conard, Robert L. Knauss, and Stanley Siegel

  We have designed this coursebook for the purpose of introducing our students to the entire spectrum of private business organizations, with side glances at nonprofit organizations. We believe that the lawyers who graduate from our classes should be familiar not only with the corporate form of organization, which dominates big business, but also with the partnership form, in which many of them will participate personally, and with individual proprietorships, which far outnumber partnerships and corporations combined. This purpose has led us to look beyond the rules of law that are peculiar to the particular forms, to other rules that pervade the lives of enterprises. We have included an extensive exploration of agency in tort and contract, which is inescapably involved in nearly every contract between enterprises and the members of the public with whom they do business or to whom they cause harm. More briefly, we introduce the reader to the requirements of licensing and filing. We aspire not only to enlighten our readers about the rules of decision, but also to provoke serious explorations of the social and economic policies that are served, and sometimes disserved, by legal rules. Occasionally, we present different legal approaches that have been found compatible with prosperous economies in other industrialized societies. Like other instructors, we hope to stimulate our students to further inquiry by generous references to cases and analyses outside the central reading material, with laconic summaries of the points involved. We have found that these summaries are more enticing than unanswered questions followed by citations that give no indication of where the inquiry will lead. The materials of this book are drawn entirely from the companion volume on Enterprise Organization (third edition), and are offered in this form for those instructors who may wish to present a separate course on noncorporate organization or to use a separate text on corporation law. We have included in the coursebook for ready reference the texts of the Uniform Partnership Act and both the original and revised versions of the Uniform Limited Partnership Act. The present edition carries forward the approaches that have been welcomed by teachers in two preceding editions under this title, and three before them under the title of “Business Organization.” In areas where change has been notable, as for example in limited partnerships, we have substituted or added substantial quantities of new material. We hope the result will help future cohorts of lawyers to understand the legal structure of the organizations that conduct much of our economic life, and to promote not only the interests of their clients but also those of the nation.

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  Miller's Court

  Arthur R. Miller

  Arthur R. Miller, a familiar face in millions of households nationwide, has demonstrated his genius at bringing the law to life on ABC's Good Morning Americaand his highly rated television series, Miller's Court, which has been getting rave reviews. In this book, he deals with a variety of topics that hit us all close to home and illustrates how much the law affects our everyday lives. For instance, what rights do you have if you injure a burglar in your own home? Did you know that accepting employment implies an employment contract and that it gives both you and your employer very specific rights and responsibilities? How does the law deal with all that sports violence you see on television - and fan violence, too, for that matter? Who has the upper hand, landlords or tenants? Miller addresses the problems of civil disobedience, child custody, and the right of privacy as well as censorship, abortion, genetic engineering, pornography, medical malpractice, and the rights of teen-agers. Treating subjects like these, Arthur Miller unravels some of the seeming mysteries of our law and shows the rationale behind the law. By putting you in the middle of a stimulating lively discussion, as he does on his television show, he makes what might have seemed absurd or complex entirely comprehensible. Though there may be times when you'll need a lawyer, reading this book will give you a better understanding of your rights, the legal system, and how to protect yourself and your loved ones.

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  The Roots of American Bureaucracy, 1830-1900

  William E. Nelson

  William Nelson reinterprets nineteenth-century American history as a struggle between majority rule and minority rights. From this fresh point of view, he traces the roots of American bureaucracy. Nelson analyzes the majority–minority tension form the Jacksonian revolution of strong party rule and majoritarian decisionmaking through the abolitionist crisis, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the rise of industrialism. He shows that ultimately political and legal pluralism emerged to protect minority and individual rights. The instrument of a professional bureaucracy with neutral political standards was fashioned. Personalities as seemingly disparate as Henry Adams, John W. Burgess, Charles W. Eliot, Christopher Columbus Langdell, and Theodore Roosevelt all contributed in an effort to stop the centralizing impact of democracy. Nelson’s new way of thinking about the period puts into different perspective the actions of the three branches of federal government, its courts and administrative agencies, and even the states. All shifted toward bureaucratic or neutral standards, reliance on experts, and professionalization. Legal thought changed from an instrumental to a formal reasoning style, civil service tamped down partisan politics, and in Congress, seniority and the committee system check democratic tendencies.

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  Sex, Drugs, Death and the Law: An Essay on Human Rights and Overcriminalization

  David A.J. Richards

  Among the most commonly argued legal questions are those involving "victimless" crimes—consensual adult sexual relations (including homosexuality and prostitution), the use of drugs, and the right to die. How can they be distinguished from proper crimes, and how can we, as citizens, judge the complex moral and legal issues that such questions entail? David Richards, a teacher of law in the areas of constitutional and criminal law, and a moral and legal philosopher concerned with the investigation of legal concepts, applies an interdisciplinary approach to the question of overcriminalization, he draws on legal and philosophical arguments and links the subject to history, psychology, social science, and literature. To demonstrate how gross and unjust overcriminalization has developed, Professor Richards explores basic assumptions that often underlie the common American sense of proper criminalization.

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  The Rejection of Consequentialism: A Philosophical Investigation of the Considerations Underlying Rival Moral Conceptions

  Samuel Scheffler

  According to an ancient if occasionally unfashionable view, the subject matter of moral philosophy is organized in the first instance around the question of how people ought to live their lives. That is certainly how I conceive of the subject, and as a consequence it has sometimes seemed to me that only a fool or a fanatic could seriously think himself ‘professionally’ competent to express and defend views in this area. Despite these scruples, which perhaps represent my better judgement, I am submitting the work that follows for the reader’s consideration. In mitigation, I can only say that if the subject matter of moral philosophy is vast and daunting, as it is, and if the complexity and power of the experiences that typically prompt moral reflection sometimes make the theorist’s abstractions seem hollow and glib, as they do, it is also true that the question which animates the subject as I conceive it is vivid and gripping and demands our attention, even if all too often we acknowledge the demand only by contriving to ignore it. This book grows out of a dissertation which I submitted for the Ph. D. at Princeton in 1977. But my interest in the topics it deals with is as longstanding as my interest in philosophy itself. The first philosophy course I took as an undergraduate at Harvard was a course on ethics taught by Roderick Firth. At the time, I found myself strongly drawn to the deontological views, though not the epistemological intuitionism, of W. D. Ross, and utilitarianism I found thoroughly abhorrent. Rejecting Ross’s own intuitionism, I began to worry about how a deontological view might be defended. My worries have only increased since that time, as the reader of this book will discover, and have led me in directions that have sometimes surprised and dismayed me. This book charts the current state of my thinking.

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  The International Dimensions of Human Rights

  Karel Vasak and Philip G. Alston

  “Human rights are neither a new morality nor a lay religion and are much more than a language common to all mankind. They are requirements which the investigator must study and integrate into his knowledge, using the rules and methods of science, whether this is philosophy, the humanities of the natural sciences, sociology or law, history or geography. In a word, the task is gradually to build up or promote a genuine scientific formulation of human rights.” This work is a treatise intended to be of use in the teaching of human rights; it has been produced with this purpose in mind. Since the Second World War, there has been a prodigious development of ideas, expressions, behavior patterns, rules and institutions, the novelty of which lies not so much in its nature as in the scal on which it has occurred. This has resulted in what may truly be termed a “human rights phenomenon”. True, this phenomenon has not arisen ex nihilo; it has derived from a past which is common to all mankind in that human rights have benefited from every major trend of thought. It is not our intention to demonstrate this again because Unesco, ever mindful to “give credit where credit is due” by tracing back to their origins the ideas which inspire and guide us, has already done so. In 1965, at the memorable Oxford Round Table, the philosophy and content of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were examined in the context of the various religious traditions, ideologies, cultures and dominant values of various types of society. Then, the admirable work, Birthright of Man, although modestly described as a “selection of texts’, in fact provided a dazzling display of those fraternal bonds which cannot but unite all those who together constitute the human race. To make a summary here of these two fundamental publications would be to mutilate them, but they must be constantly referred to, it the inspiration and the very substance of this treatise are to be understood. While the “human rights phenomenon” derives from the past, it is also tied in with the present, a present in the process of continual change. In the face of this contemporary phenomenon there is but one valid approach: that awareness from which the human rights phenomenon springs must, if it is not to lapse into a sterile romanticism of fall prey to an exclusive ideology, thereby giving rise to an irreversible wave of violence, be sustained by objective and impartial work. In other words, the specific manifestation of human rights in the latter half of the 20th century makes it mandatory that these rights be regarded as “subjects of scientific investigation” constituting a particular field of study, in order that respect for human rights be based upon scientific data rather than dictated by the express requirements of a dogma. It is for this reason that the contemporary phenomenon of human rights demands that a genuine science of human rights be developed, the objectivity and rigour of which will vouch for the independence of human rights from any particular school of thought or any particular interpretation of reality. Any science in the process of formation must start off by defining its subject and working out its method. This was one of the goals of the Nice Colloquium, organized on 5 and 6 March 1971, at the request of Unesco, by the International Institute of Human Rights, on the theme: “The Methodology and Teaching of the Science of Human Rights”. At the colloquium René Cassin, the principal drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, gave a deductive definition. Conducted with the help of a computer which was fed with more than 50,000 terms relating to “human rights,” this study has enable me, by using those terms which were most frequently employed, to define the science of human rights as follows: “The science of human rights concerns the individual person living within a state who, being accused of an offense or being the victim of a situation of war, benefits from the protection of the aw, due to either the intercession of the national judge or that of international organizations (such as the organs of the European Convention on Human Rights), and whose rights, particularly the right to equality, are harmonized with the requirements of public order.” One cannot fail to be struck by the fact that in this second definition, which is more descriptive than teleological, it is the law, synonymous with freedom, which occupies the central place among the means of protecting human rights, and that it is equality which, among human rights, is given the leading place. It is obvious, as suggested by the two definitions, that in the study of human rights all the human disciplines interconnect and enrich each other to form, with human rights, the equivalent of philosophy in the Middle Ages, the science of sciences. Even though some will balk at this “domination” of human rights over the other sciences, we shall certainly be quite prepared to draw the conclusion that there is a need for an interdisciplinary study of human rights. Indeed, this is the only method which will make it possible to grasp the wealth and variety of human rights as well as their relative and global character. This treatise is, however, primarily a legal treatise, intended first and foremost to be of use in the teaching of human rights in Faculties of Law and in Faculties of Political and Social Sciences. This juristic approach is not without risks insofar as, in sociology, it will not provide any clear evidence of the fact that human rights constitute one element among others of the structures of society, and that, consequently, violations of human rights may be total and not particularized, being the result of certain inherently unjust and inhumane social structures. This danger of the study of human rights being thereby deprived of some of its value is undeniable. However, this can be surmounted b increasing the number of interdisciplinary research undertakings in the field of human rights; Unesco will aid in this task in coming years, as is stressed in its Medium-Term Plan. The truth of the matter is that this first treatise on human rights is primarily a legal treatise for practical reasons and because there is a need for such a work in education. The language in which human rights are formulated is primarily the language of law; it consequently falls to the jurist to be the first to gather together the various scattered elements in this field and to provide a survey of them. Thus, it was the Law Faculties throughout the world who were the first to open the door to the scientific study of human rights. Today their teachers and students demand teaching materials which will enable them to go beyond general notions now taught everywhere in courses on constitutional law or in those relating to the public international law. It is primarily for them that this treatise is intended. This “Unesco Treatise on Human Rights” is a collective work. Having had the honour of overseeing its preparation, I have taken care not to modify its collective character, and each author has been allowed complete freedom to guarantee the independent nature of the treatise. No leading idea governs this treatise, save that it should be of use in the teaching of human rights; it expresses no particular ideology, even though it tends perhaps to reflect all ideologies, owing to the choice of its authors. Of course, this diversity is not without drawbacks. For example, after reading this treatise, the reader will not know if the right to self-determination is a genuine human right, if it is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for human rights, or if it is a so-called constitutional principle of human rights. All these theses are formulated, explicitly or implicitly, in this work. In the final analysis, the diversity of views presented constitutes an invitation to the reader to exercise his own right as a human being to choose freely one or the other of these theses or to propose his own. The divergence may be even more fundamental. Thus, some of the authors of the treatise support the thesis of absolution sovereignty of the State and consequently, the absolute bearing of Article 2, paragraph 7, of the United Nations Charter, being of the opinion that human rights are solely a matter of domestic jurisdiction and that the international “protection” of human rights is in actual fact merely a particular form of co-operation between the sovereign States. Other authors of the treatise are far from subscribing to this thesis. While not questioning the notion of sovereignty, they emphasize its limits and relative character and, most of all, they stress its subordination to international law, of which human rights form a part, particularly since human rights have been enshrined in several provisions in the United Nations Charter. In point of fact, the opinions differ only in regard to the extent to which sovereignty is, if not limited, at least determined in respect of its exercise, by the development of international law and, primarily, by international human rights law, the existence of which, in my opinion at least, is now difficult to deny. Other examples of similarly conflicting views, and consequently of the same freedom of critical opinion, can be found in the pages of the treatise. Is this a defect? I don’t think so, being of the opinion that all the theses deserve to be known provided, however, that they are set forth in a spirit of tolerance and of respect for others, as this treatise seeks to do. If, however, the treatise contains anything that gives offence, it does so unintentionally and, above all, unwittingly.

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  Development and the Rule of Law: Prevention versus Cure as a Human Rights Strategy

  Philip G. Alston

  Until very recently the pursuit of human rights objectives has been undertaken in relative isolation from the massive efforts which have been devoted to the elusive quest for development. The loss has been twofold. On the one hand human rights initiatives have foundered because they have sought to treat the symptoms of repression without paying adequate regard to the deeper structural problems which gave rise to the symptoms in the first place. In many instances these problems are rooted in underdevelopment or maldevelopment. On the other hand development programmes have made only very limited headway, due in large part to their overriding preoccupation with growth in macro-economic terms and their consequent neglect of the human factor. Even today the vast majority of economists and development planners look upon human rights issues as extraneous and largely irrelevant matters, the consideration of which can only hinder efficiency and provoke political controversy. Since 1977, United Nations human rights organs have been engaged in a major effort to relate their specific concerns to a range of broader structural issues and to bring human rights endeavours closer to the mainstream of international social and economic concerns. Over the same period the International Commission of Jurists, in cooperation with other bodies, has organized a series of regional or sub-regional seminars around the broad theme of human rights and development. Seminars have been held in Dar-es-Salaam (1976), Barbados (1977), Dakar (1978), and Bogota (1979), and others are planned. The present paper is designed to provide an overview of some of the main development issues with which the international human rights community has been attempting to grapple in recent years. While the treatment provided is by no means comprehensive, an effort has been made to describe as well as provide an objective assessment of pro- gress to date in this field.

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  Medicine and Moral Philosophy

  Thomas Nagel, Marshall Cohen, and Thomas Scanlon

  Responding to the increased public interest in the moral aspects of medical practice, this collection of essays focuses on questions of justice and injustice in the delivery and distribution of medical care and on problems concerning the rights of patients in their relationship to doctors, medical institutions, and government.

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  Econometric Models and Economic Forecasts

  Robert S. Pindyck and Daniel L. Rubinfeld

  First course in Econometrics in Economics Departments at better schools, also Economic/Business Forecasting. Statistics prerequisite but no calculus. Slightly higher level and more comprehensive than Gujarati (M-H, 1996) . P-R covers more time series and forecasting. P-R coverage is notch below Johnston-DiNardo (M-H, 97) and requires no matrix algebra. Includes data disk.

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  Essays on China's Legal Tradition

  Jerome A. Cohen, R. Randle Edwards, and Fu-mei Chang Chen

  In this volume of essays a group of scholars from Europe, Japan, the Republic of China, and the United States examines China’s legal tradition to determine its importance for the study of both pre-modern China and of contemporary affairs.

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  Civil Procedure: Cases and Materials

  John J. Cound, Jack H. Friedenthal, and Arthur R. Miller

  Prior edition of Civil Procedure: Cases and Materials.

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  Higher Education and the Unholy Crusade Against Governmental Regulation

  Harry T. Edwards

  Issues pertaining to increasing government regulation of higher education, monetary and nonmonetary costs of such regulation, and court cases and legislation that illustrate the academic autonomy versus governmental interference conflict are considered in this book by a circuit judge. It is suggested that although colleges and universities have been involved in governmental regulations and court suits in the 1970s, they have fared well, especially when their dependence on governmental agencies for funding is considered. It is claimed that the criticism that the implementation of federal regulations is draining schools of too much money has not been substantiated. However, no one is sure how much federal regulation costs. It is suggested that as a critical element in society, education cannot expect to continue to be left completely autonomous, particularly since educational institutions have contributed to social injustices. One approach to determine the impact of governmental regulations is to study court opinions that have faced the conflict between the government's desire to implement public policies and the academicians' desire to remain autonomous from governmental interference. Significant legal developments in the following areas of special concern to educators are reviewed: employment discrimination, procedural due process for faculty, financial exigency as a ground for dismissal, procedural due process for students, Title IX, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It is concluded that these developments demonstrate that the doctrine of academic abstention has remained substantially intact. It is predicted that in the next decade the disruptive effects of external regulations will likely decrease. Views expressed by the Sloan Commission on Government and Higher Education are considered. A bibliography is appended.

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  An Introduction to the American Legal System: A Supplement to Higher Education and the Law

  Harry T. Edwards and Virginia Davis Nordin

  As a supplement to the basic text, "Higher Education and the Law," this book briefly describes the American legal system for scholars, students, and administrators in the field of higher education who have had little or no legal training. The following topics are addressed: The United States Courts, the process of judicial review, reading and understanding judicial opinions, state court systems, legislative and statutory sources of law, and administrative rules and regulations as sources of law. A chart of the organization of the U.S. courts is included. The following forms of congressional action are covered: the bill, the joint resolution, the concurrent resolution, and the simple resolution. Rules of procedure in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, presidential action, and the following steps in the enactment of a valid law are described: publication, "slip law," statutes at large, and the United States Code. The text of the United States Constitution and a bibliography are appended.

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  Modern Products Liability Law

  Richard A. Epstein

  The law of products liability has been central to the movement for consumers' rights ever since the Progressive Era early in this century. But, over the past ten years, the importance of this law has increased dramatically. Many more products liability suits are being brought. Settlements are larger and more frequent. Many more lawyers, even entire firms, are specializing in this increasingly lucrative field. And liablilty insurance rates for manufacturers have skyrocketed. This book is the first comprehensive, informed study of a rapidly evolving - and hotly controversial - area of civil law. Richard Epstein begins with the historical background to products liability law. After tracing its nineteenth- and early twentieth-century antecedents, he examines key provisions of the Restatment (Second) of Torts, as well as such precedent-setting court cases as Escola v. Coca-Cola Bottling Company and Greenman v. Yuba Power Company. He then turns to a close analysis of the modern law - the theories behind it, the defenses available under it, the thorny questions of procedure and proof on which it finally rests. Such basic issues as the matter of design defects and the duty to warn are analyzed, as is the controversial question of punitive damages. Each of the major rules that currently govern products liablity suits is examined in terms of its intrinsic fairness and its probable incentive effect. Epstein finds much to fault in the received wisdom about modern products liability law. He maintains that today's often confused laws result in great administrative costs and uncertainty on the part of consumers, manufacturers, and legal specialists. He stresses the central distinction - often disregarded by today's overprotective courts - between products that conform to general consumer expectations and products that contain hidden defects of which the consumer is wholly unaware. Any lawyer, judge, researcher, or business person involved in the issue of products liability will find this book an incomparable fund of information and insights.

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  The Rights of Parents: The Basic ACLU Guide to the Rights of Parents

  Martin Guggenheim and Alan Sussman

  We live in a society in which the family is one of the last bastions of private and personal judgment. THE RIGHTS OF PARENTS is a clear, concise guide that cuts through the myths and legalese of family law and offers straightforward advice concerning the legal status of parents. Here is where you stand with: Landlords—Can you be denied housing because of your children? School Boards—Can your child be disciplined without your permission? Medical Treatment—Who has control over your child’s health? The Law—When can parental rights be terminated? Ex-Spouses—What are your rights? What are theirs? What is “child-snatching”? Employers—Can you be denied a job because you have pre-school-age children? Government Agencies—How much power do they really have? In-Laws—When can they help? When can they hinder? One of a series of authoritative handbooks, THE RIGHTS OF PARENTS will help you to protect one of the most precious rights of all: the right to bear and raise children.