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Textualists
Textualism is a formalist theory in which the interpretation of the law is primarily based on the ordinary meaning of the legal text, where no consideration is given to non-textual sources, such as intention of the law when passed, the problem it was intended to remedy, or significant questions regarding the justice or rectitude of the law.Keith E. Whittington, Constitutional Interpretation: Textual Meaning, Original Intent, and Judicial Review (2001) . Definition The textualist will "look at the statutory structure and hear the words as they would sound in the mind of a skilled, objectively reasonable user of words." The textualist thus does not give weight to legislative history materials when attempting to ascertain the meaning of a text. Textualism is often erroneously conflated with originalism, and was advocated by United States Supreme Court Justices such as Hugo Black and Antonin Scalia; the latter staked out his claim in his 1997 Tanner Lecture: " tis th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Statutory Interpretation
Statutory interpretation is the process by which courts interpret and apply legislation. Some amount of interpretation is often necessary when a case involves a statute. Sometimes the words of a statute have a plain and a straightforward meaning. But in many cases, there is some ambiguity in the words of the statute that must be resolved by the judge. To find the meanings of statutes, judges use various tools and methods of statutory interpretation, including traditional canons of statutory interpretation, legislative history, and purpose. In common law jurisdictions, the judiciary may apply rules of statutory interpretation both to legislation enacted by the legislature and to delegated legislation such as administrative agency regulations. History Statutory interpretation first became significant in common law systems, of which historically English law#Common law, England is the exemplar. In Roman and civil law, a statute (or code) guides the magistrate, but there is no jud ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legislative History
Legislative history includes any of various materials generated in the course of creating legislation, such as committee reports, analysis by legislative counsel, committee hearings, floor debates, and histories of actions taken. Legislative history is used for discovering sources of information about a legislature's intent in enacting a law, although jurists disagree widely about the extent (if any) to which a statute's legislative history has bearing on the meaning of its text. Sweden Swedish courts frequently avail themselves of the legislative history ( sv, förarbeten, literally "travaux préparatoires") in interpreting the law. Valid documents of legislative history are often taken to be official government reports, the bills (''proposition'') presented by the Swedish government before the Riksdag, statements made by the responsible minister at the government session at which the bill was adopted (''regeringssammanträde''), the report on the bill by the relevant Riksdag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugo Black
Hugo Lafayette Black (February 27, 1886 – September 25, 1971) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist who served as a U.S. Senator from Alabama from 1927 to 1937 and as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1937 to 1971. A member of the Democratic Party and a devoted New Dealer, Black endorsed Franklin D. Roosevelt in both the 1932 and 1936 presidential elections.Ball, Howard. ''Hugo L. Black: Cold Steel Warrior''. Oxford University Press. 2006. Before he became a Senator, Black espoused anti-Catholic views and was a member of the Ku Klux Klan in Alabama, from which he resigned in 1925. In 1937, upon being appointed to the Supreme Court, Black said: "Before becoming a Senator I dropped the Klan. I have had nothing to do with it since that time. I abandoned it. I completely discontinued any association with the organization." Black served as the Secretary of the Senate Democratic Conference and the Chair of the Senate Education Committee during his decade i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legal Formalism
Legal formalism is both a descriptive theory and a normative theory of how judges should decide cases. In its descriptive sense, formalists maintain that judges reach their decisions by applying uncontroversial principles to the facts; formalists believe that there is an underlying logic to the many legal principles that may underlie different cases. These principles, they claim, are straightforward and can be readily discovered by anyone with some legal expertise. The ultimate goal of that kind of formalism would be to describe the underlying principles in a single and determinate system that could be applied mechanically—from which the term "mechanical jurisprudence" comes. The antithesis of formalism is legal realism, which has been said to be " rhaps the most pervasive and accepted theory of how judges arrive at legal decisions." This descriptive conception of "legal formalism" can be extended to a normative theory, which holds that judges should decide cases by the appli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constitutionality
Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When laws, procedures, or acts directly violate the constitution, they are unconstitutional. All others are considered constitutional unless the country in question has a mechanism for challenging laws as unconstitutional. Applicability An act or statute enacted as law either by a national legislature or by a subordinate-level legislature such as that of a state or province may be declared unconstitutional. However, governments do not only create laws but also enforce the laws set forth in the document defining the government, which is the constitution. When the proper court determines that a legislative act or law conflicts with the constitution, it finds that law unconstitutional and declares it void in whole or in part. Depending on th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tanner Lecture
The Tanner Lectures on Human Values is a multi-university lecture series in the humanities, founded in 1978, at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, by the American scholar Obert Clark Tanner. In founding the lecture, he defined their purpose as follows: It is considered one of the top lecture series among top universities, and being appointed a lectureship is a recognition of the scholar's "extra-ordinary achievement" in the field of human values. Member institutions Permanent lectureships are established at the following nine institutions: * Linacre College, Oxford * University of California, Berkeley * Clare Hall, Cambridge * Harvard University * University of Michigan * Princeton University * Stanford University * University of Utah * Yale University Lecturers * 1976-77 (Michigan) Joel Feinberg—"Voluntary Euthanasia and the Inalienable Right to Life" * 1977-78 (Stanford) Thomas Nagel—"The Limits of Objectivity" * 1977-78 (Michigan) Karl Popper—"Three Worlds" * 1977-7 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
