Best of
Law

1980

Principles of Public International Law


Ian Brownlie - 1980
    A new chapter on the Use of Force has been added and further discussion of the Environment. Its clarity, excellent structure, detailed referencing and depth and maturity of analysis make it the ideal text for students, scholars and practitioners.

Democracy and Distrust: A Theory of Judicial Review


John Hart Ely - 1980
    Written for layman and scholar alike, the book addresses one of the most important issues facing Americans today: within what guidelines shall the Supreme Court apply the strictures of the Constitution to the complexities of modern life?Until now legal experts have proposed two basic approaches to the Constitution. The first, "interpretivism," maintains that we should stick as closely as possible to what is explicit in the document itself. The second, predominant in recent academic theorizing, argues that the courts should be guided by what they see as the fundamental values of American society. John Hart Ely demonstrates that both of these approaches are inherently incomplete and inadequate. Democracy and Distrust sets forth a new and persuasive basis for determining the role of the Supreme Court today.Ely's proposal is centered on the view that the Court should devote itself to assuring majority governance while protecting minority rights. "The Constitution," he writes, "has proceeded from the sensible assumption that an effective majority will not unreasonably threaten its own rights, and has sought to assure that such a majority not systematically treat others less well than it treats itself. It has done so by structuring decision processes at all levels in an attempt to ensure, first, that everyone's interests will be represented when decisions are made, and second, that the application of those decisions will not be manipulated so as to reintroduce in practice the sort of discrimination that is impermissible in theory."Thus, Ely's emphasis is on the procedural side of due process, on the preservation of governmental structure rather than on the recognition of elusive social values. At the same time, his approach is free of interpretivism's rigidity because it is fully responsive to the changing wishes of a popular majority. Consequently, his book will have a profound impact on legal opinion at all levels--from experts in constitutional law, to lawyers with general practices, to concerned citizens watching the bewildering changes in American law.

Race, Racism and American Law


Derrick A. Bell - 1980
    Make your next course intellectually stimulating by adopting the penetrating and provocative RACE, RACISM AND AMERICAN LAW, Fifth Edition.

Mackeys Jurisprudence of Freemasonry


Albert G. MacKey - 1980
    Especially important for its treatment of landmarks and Ancient Constitutions. Covers the Law for Lodges, for Candidates, for Individuals and for Grand Lodges.

Labor Guide to Labor Law


Bruce S. Feldacker - 1980
    Surveys labor law in the private sector, from the labor perspective, with chapters arranged in progression from a union's initial organizing campaign to the mature

The Trial of Patrolman Thomas Shea


Thomas Hauser - 1980
    

Boyd's Book of Odd Facts


L.M. Boyd - 1980
    

Bubonic Plague in Early Modern Russia: Public Health and Urban Disaster


John T. Alexander - 1980
    Alexander's study dramatically highlights how the Russian people reacted to the Plague, and shows how the tools of modern epidemiology can illuminate the causes of the plague's tragic course through Russia. Bubonic Plauge in Early Modern Russia makes contributions to many aspects of Russian and European history: social, economic, medical, urban, demographic, and meterological. It is particularly enlightening in its discussion of eighteenth-century Russia's emergent medical profession and public health institutions and, overall, should interest scholars in its use of abundant new primary source material from Soviet, German, and British archives.

The Elbert Hubbard notebook: Mottos, epigrams, short essays, etc


Elbert Hubbard - 1980
    

Psychology and Law: Can Justice Survive the Social Sciences?


Daniel N. Robinson - 1980
    

The American Way of Crime: From Salem to Watergate, a Stunning New Perspective on American History


Frank Browning - 1980
    In looking at crime in America, the most interesting question is not "Whodunit?" but "WHO DEFINES IT?" --- who decides what is legal and what is not.Distinguishing between what should be legal and what should be criminal may seem a matter of simple morality, but out history shows that it's more a matter of point of view. In seventeenth-century Salem, for example, Mrs. Dorothy Talbye committed the crime of doubting her religion, and was tried on criminal charges for it. In 1859 it was perfectly legal to own slaves, and beat them or even kill them, but it was a crime to help them escape. In 1877 it was a crime for mineworkers to strike for better wages, but it was legal for Pinkerton detectives to threaten, assault, or even murder the strikers.Crime in America, then, is defined not by any natural law, but by a coalition of government and other powerful groups --- sometimes the Church, more often big business. From a parade of such examples springs the authors' thesis: that through the years this coalition has often defused our most explosive social issues by redefining them as a conflict between right and wrong.From the Salem witch trials to the Scopes monkey trial, from Joe Hill to Jimmy Hoffa, from Boss Tweed to Watergate, Gerassi and Browning radically re-examine the nature of crime --- and criminals --- in this country. Authoritative, controversial, crammed with vivid, revealing anecdotes, 'The American Way of Crime' is an important, often provocative contribution ito everyone's understanding of the American way of life.