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Preface | |
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About the Authors | |
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Reason in Law | |
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What Legal Reasoning Is, and Why It Matters | |
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An Overview of Law and Politics | |
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A Definition of Law | |
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A Definition of Legal Reasoning | |
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Sources of Official Legal Texts | |
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The Choices That Legal Reasoning Confronts | |
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Illustrative Case | |
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Questions about the Case | |
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Change and Stability in Legal Reasoning | |
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Sources of Unpredictibility in Law | |
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The Disorderly Conduct of Words | |
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The Unpredictability of Precedents | |
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Reasoning by Example in General | |
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Examples in Law | |
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The Three-Step Process of Reasoning by Example | |
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How Reasoning by Example Perpetuates Unpredictability in Law | |
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An Illustration of Unpredictability in Law | |
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Reasoning by Example Facilitates Legal Change | |
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Is Unpredictability in Law Desirable? | |
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The Other Side of the Coin: Stare Decisis as a Stabilizing and Clarifying Element in Law | |
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Illustrative Cases | |
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Questions about the Cases | |
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Common Law | |
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Origins of Common Law | |
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Reasoning by Example in Common Law | |
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The Cherry Tree | |
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The Pit | |
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The Diving Board | |
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Keeping the Common-Law Tradition Alive | |
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Making Common Law without Close Precedents | |
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Horizontal Stare Decisis in Common Law | |
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Rightly Adhering to Precedent Because the Need for Stability and Reliance is Present | |
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Wrongly Adhering to Precedent When Stability Is Unnecessary | |
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The Common-Law Tradition Today | |
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Illustrative Case | |
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Questions about the Case | |
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Statutory Interpretation | |
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What are Statutes? | |
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Four Misguided Approaches to Statutory Interpretation | |
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Literalism: Sticking to the Words | |
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The Golden Rule | |
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Canons of Statutory Construction | |
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Legislative Intent | |
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Other Words in the Statute | |
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The Expressed Intent of Individual Legislators and Committee Reports | |
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Other Actions, Events, and Decisions in the Legislature | |
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The Perils of Legislative Intent | |
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Purpose: The Key to Wise Statutory Interpretation | |
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The Centrality of Statutory Purpose | |
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Determining Purpose: Words Can Help | |
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Determining Purpose: The Audience | |
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Determining Purpose: The Assumption of Legislative Rationality and the Uses of Legislative History | |
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Illustrations of Statutory Purpose | |
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Two Easy Cases | |
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The Case of the Lady Jurors, or Why Legislative Intent Does Not Determine Statutory Purpose | |
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Statutory Purpose in the Cases of Criminal Commerce: Caminetti, McBoyle, and Alpers | |
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A Final Complication | |
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Stare Decisis in Statutory Interpretation | |
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Major League Baseball, Haviland's Dog and Pony Show, and Government Regulation of Business | |
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The Case against Increased Adherence to Precedent in Statutory Interpretation | |
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A Summary Statement of the Appropriate Judicial Approach to Statutory Interpretation | |
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Illustrative Case | |
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Questions about the Case | |
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Interpreting the United States Constitution | |
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"The Supreme Law of the Land" | |
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Conventional Legal Reasoning in Constitutional Interpretation | |
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Words as Channels of Meaning | |
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Original Intent and Purpose | |
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Stare (In) Decisis | |
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Judicial Review and Democratic Theory | |
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Theories of Judicial Self-Restraint | |
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Political Constraints on the Court | |
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The Turn to Individual Dignity | |
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Illustrative Case | |
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Questions about the Case | |
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Law and Politics | |
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Legal Reasoning as Liberal Justification | |
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A Recap | |
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Impartiality and Trust | |
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Impartial Judgment | |
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The Value of Impartiality | |
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Applying the Theory | |
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Legal Reasoning as a Public Language | |
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Law and Moralistic Communities: The Mann Act Revisited | |
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Law in Conditions of Diversity: Emerging Issues of Gay Rights | |
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Conclusion | |
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Illustrative Case | |
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Introduction to Legal Procedure and Terminology | |
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The Case | |
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Legal Terms | |
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Bush v. Gore | |
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Introduction | |
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The Protest Phase | |
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The Contest Phase | |
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Questions | |
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Conclusion: Why Legal Reasoning Matters | |
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Credits | |
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Index | |
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Index of Cases | |