This book is about law, but it is not a law book. It is aimed at all interested contemporaries, lawyers and non-lawyers alike. Richly seasoned with personal memories and anecdotes, it offers unique insights into how European courts actually work. It is generally assumed that independence is part and parcel of the role and function of a judge. Nevertheless, European judges sometimes face difficulties in this regard. Owing to their being nominated by a government, their limited term of appointment, and the possibility of being reappointed or not, their judicial independence can be jeopardized. Certain governments have a track record of choosing candidates who they believe they can keep on a leash. When this happens, private parties are at risk of losing out. The EFTA Court is under even more pressure, since the EEA/EFTA states Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway essentially constitute a pond with one big fish (Norway) and two minnows. For quite some time now, certain Norwegian protagonists have sought to effectively transform the EEA into a bilateral agreement with the EU. This attitude has led to political implications that have affected the author himself. The independence of the EFTA Court is also endangered by the fact that it operates alongside a large sister court, the Court of Justice of the European Union. And yet the EFTA Court has established its own line of jurisprudence and its own judicial style. It has remained faithful to specific EFTA values, such as the belief in free trade and open markets, efficiency, and a modern view of mankind. During the first 24 years of its existence, it has even had an over-proportionate influence on ECJ case law. Since EEA Single Market law is economic law, the importance of economics, an often-overlooked aspect, is also addressed. In closing, the book explores Switzerland's complicated relationship with, and Britain's impending departure from, the EU. In this regard, it argues that the EFTA pillar should be expanded into a second European structure under British leadership and with Swiss participation.

Written by leading scholars and judges, the Research Handbook on Representative Shareholder Litigation is a modern-day survey of the state of this essential field. The book is an important and timely contribution by leading corporate law scholars, judges, and practitioners, seeking to better understand and explain the proliferation of shareholder litigation across the globe. It provides a cross-jurisdictional survey of litigation and empirical evidence on the recent evolution of these lawsuits, including in-depth analyses of several key forms of shareholder litigation. Its chapters cover securities class actions, merger litigation, derivative suits, and appraisal litigation, as well as other forms of shareholder litigation. Through in-depth analysis of these different forms of litigation, the book explores the agency costs inherent in representative litigation, the challenges of multijurisdictional litigation and disclosure-only settlements, and the rise of institutional investors. It also surveys how related issues are addressed across the globe, with a special focus on parallel forms of litigation in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Israel and China. This Handbook will be an invaluable resource on this important topic for scholars of corporate law, practitioners, judges and legislators. Contributors include: D. Awrey, A. Badawi, R.A. Booth, E.A. Chiappinelli, S.J. Choi, B. Clarke, J.C. Coffee, Jr., J.D. Cox, J. Erikcson, J.J. Fedechko, J.E. Fisch, J.L. Gale, M. Gargantini, M. Gelter, S. Griffith, L.A. Hamermesh, S. Hannes, E. Kamar, C.R. Korsmo, J.T. Laster, A.M. Lipton, M. Myers, J.J. Park, A.C. Pritchard, P. Puri, A. Rickey, R. Ronnen, A.M. Rose, C. Silver, S.D. Solomon, R.S. Thomas, D. Webber, V. Winship, M. Wischmeier Shaner, C. Xi

This revised text provides a practical guide to the law relating to all aspects of costs in arbitration proceedings. The Arbitration Act 1996, has made significant changes to the law on arbitration costs. These have, among other things, made arbitrators responsible for the cost-effective management of cases, and given them new powers to help them achieve this. In its second edition, "Costs in Arbitration Proceedings" has been updated to include sections on: agreements as to costs; the arbitrator's power to limit costs; and forms and precedents. It sets out the law of costs for the parties and of the parties, the arbitrators' fees, taxation of costs, and security for costs, costs implications of offers of settlement and application to the court in repect of costs. It is suitable for professional arbitration lawyers and also for the new or lay arbitrator.

USE THIS FIRST PARAGRAPH ONLY FOR GENERAL CATALOGS... The First Amendment right of free speech is a fragile one. Its fragility is found no less in legal opinions than in other, less specialized forms of public discourse. Both its fragility and its sometimes surprising resiliency are reflected in this book. It provides an examination of how the U.S. Supreme Court has dealt with the problem of restrictions on media coverage of the criminal justice system, as well as how lower courts have interpreted the law created by the Supreme Court. The author explores the degree to which the Court has created a coherent body of law that protects free expression values while permitting reasonable government regulation, and examines the Supreme Court's jurisprudence concerning prior restraints, post-publication sanctions on the press, and their right of access to criminal proceedings.
This is a study of the evolution of constitutional doctrine -- particularly when transported from the rarefied air of the Supreme Court to lower court judges who may not share the values of the jurists above them in the judicial hierarchy. The book's greatest strength lies in its thorough analysis and critique of how judges apply First Amendment doctrine to the complex problem of providing for both a "free press" and "fair trials." Much of the available literature on this topic focuses on legal doctrine, but with attention to the legal rules that emerge from the courts, rather than examining and critiquing the judicial techniques that "produce" those rules. Moreover, although a significant body of scholarship has explored Supreme Court doctrine, this work is one of the few that trace the influence of those doctrines through lower federal court decisions. The hope is to produce a reasonably accurate -- if partial -- picture of how intermediate appellate and trial courts use U.S. Supreme Court doctrine to decide First Amendment cases.
Note: This book is necessarily influenced by the 'round-the-clock' press coverage of the recent O.J. Simpson trial. Although the Simpson case did not make new law, the trial and its outcome seem to be -- at this writing -- an inescapable part of how many people think about these issues. The simple truth, however, is that the Simpson case was an anomaly that has little relation to the everyday concerns of media coverage of the criminal justice system. While the venerable "parade of horribles" can be an effective strategy for the legal advocate, it is not always the ideal way to address larger concerns, particularly when fundamental rights are at stake.

In 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) celebrated 65 years and has thereby achieved retirement age in most EU Member States. If it were to retire, the Court would be able to look back at a fascinating journey, from its relatively humble beginning on 4 December 1952 as part of the then brand-new European Coal and Steel Community, to one of the most important and exciting judicial institutions in Europe, perhaps in the entire world. The need to understand the CJEU has never been greater. This open access book is dedicated to improving our understanding of the Court in relationship to other actors, including other EU institutions, the Member States, national courts, third countries, and international organisations. It is based on a conference arranged by the Swedish Network for European Legal Studies (SNELS) held at Stockholm University in December 2016, and includes contributions by both lawyers and researchers in other fields, as well as current members of the Court. The eBook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Swedish Studies Network.

It is a truism that the administration of criminal justice consists of a series of discretionary decisions by police, prosecutors, judges, and other officials. Analyzing the origins, nature, and impact of various efforts to control discretion, Taming the System is the first comprehensive history of the reform attempts in the past forty years. Of enormous value to scholars, reformers, and criminal justice professionals, Walker's book approaches the discretion problem through a detailed examination of four decision points: policing, bail setting, plea bargaining, and sentencing. In a field which largely produces short-ranged "evaluation research", this study, in taking a wider historical approach, distinguishes between the roles of administrative bodies (the police) and evaluates the longer-term trends and the successful reforms in criminal justice history. Serving as an "interim report" on what does and does not work in the system, Taming the System concludes that not only has the effort to control discretion been a unifying theme in criminal justice history, but that there have actually been some successes, resulting in reducing disparities in race and social class.

This work examines the constitution, jurisdiction and procedure of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on the basis of its Statute and Rules, as well as the Resolution on the Internal Judicial Practice and the Guidelines concerning the Preparation and Presentation of Cases. It gives a critical analysis of the role of the Tribunal in the settlement of law of the sea disputes. The articles were previously published in the Indian Journal of International Law and are revised, edited and updated for this edition. The contributors are sitting judges of the Tribunal and the book thus gives a perfect insider's view of the law and practice of the Tribunal.

This book is a study of the social transformation of criminal justice, its institutions, its method of case disposition and the source of its legitimacy. Focused upon the apprehension, investigation and adjudication of indicted cases in New York City's main trial tribunal in the nineteenth century - the Court of General Sessions - it traces the historical underpinnings of a lawyering culture which, in the first half of the nineteenth century, celebrated trial by jury as the fairest and most reliable method of case disposition and then at the middle of the century dramatically gave birth to plea bargaining, which thereafter became the dominant method of case disposition in the United States. The book demonstrates that the nature of criminal prosecutions in everyday indicted cases was transformed, from disputes between private parties resolved through a public determination of the facts and law to a private determination of the issues between the state and the individual, marked by greater police involvement in the processing of defendants and public prosecutorial discretion. As this occurred, the structural purpose of criminal courts changed - from individual to aggregate justice - as did the method and manner of their dispositions - from trials to guilty pleas. Contemporaneously, a new criminology emerged, with its origins in European jurisprudence, which was to transform the way in which crime was viewed as a social and political problem. The book, therefore, sheds light on the relationship of the method of case disposition to the means of securing social control of an underclass, in the context of the legitimation of a new social order in which the local state sought to define groups of people as well as actual offending in criminogenic terms. "At a moment when France is poised to adopt plea bargaining, McConville and Mirsky offer the best historical account of its emergence in mid-nineteenth century America, based upon exhaustive analysis of archival data. Their interpretation of the reasons for the dramatic shift from jury trials to negotiated justice offers no comfort for contemporary apologists of plea bargaining as more "professional." The combination of new data and critical reflection on accepted theories make this essential reading for anyone interested in criminal justice policy." Rick Abel, Connell Professor of Law, UCLA Law School "A fascinating account which traces the origins of plea-bargaining in the politicisation of criminal justice, linking developments in day-to-day practices of the criminal process with macro-changes in political economy, notably the structures of local governance. This is a classic socio-legal study and should be read by anyone interested in criminology, criminal justice, modern history or social theory". Nicola Lacey, Professor of Criminal Law and Legal Theory, London School of Economics.

An analysis of the constitutional aspects of a century-long struggle for civil rights.

In Equality and Liberty in the Golden Age of State Constitutional Law, Jeffrey Shaman closely examines the evolution of liberty and equality under state constitutions from both a historical and jurisprudential perspective. The rise of New Judicial Federalism has allowed many states to rediscover their own empowerment in enacting their own constitutions. As the New Judicial Federalism gained ground, it was found to be that state constitutional law is an extremely important source for the protection of individual rights and liberties. These state constitutions can be interpreted however the state sees fit, and act independently of federal constitutional law. Shaman explains that this rise has caused these states to recognize individual civil rights or liberties beyond those recognized under the Federal Constitution. Professor Shaman emphasizes how important state constitutional law is in the protection of the rights of the individual. Since these states are acting under their own constitutional law and guidance, their constitutions provide an extension of the individual's rights to privacy, civil rights, and liberties. State courts and constitutions have also pioneered a trend in recognizing and expanding abortion rights and some have granted rights to same-sex civil unions, and in some states, same-sex marriages. This trend eventually caught the attention of the U.S. Supreme Court to finally follow suit. This book will prove to be an intriguing read for lawyers, judges and scholars alike who are interested in the protection of their individual state rights as well as their federal rights.

When a dispute arises between a European or American firm and a Chinese business partner, this matchless source of expert guidance is exactly what a practitioner needs. It provides a lucid understanding of what kinds of disputes are likely to arise, why they arise, and exactly how to proceed with confidence toward a satisfactory resolution in post-WTO China. "Resolving Business Disputes in China" explores and discusses such issues and topics as the following: pertinent legislation and the commentary it has elicited; relevant jurisdictional rules covering arbitration, mediation, and other alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods; drafting arbitration agreements; arbitration/mediation procedure; labour/employment arbitration; intellectual property infringement protection measures; anti-dumping measures, anti-subsidy and countervailing measures, and safeguard measures; structure of the court system; and judicial procedural standards and evidentiary rules. The book summarises cases that tend to establish points of law, linking them to corresponding legislation and presenting them according to the matter of the dispute (contractual, intellectual property, technology transfer, employment, and so on). Arbitration fee schedules and a list of arbitrators are also included. Western practitioners who deal with China, whatever the size of the enterprise they represent, need look no further than this incomparable book for the expert guidance they require. This title forms part of the "Asia Business Law Series". "The Asia Business Law Series" is published in cooperation with CCH Asia and provides updated and reliable practical guidelines, legislation and case law, in order to help practitioners, policy makers and scholars understand how business is conducted in the rapidly growing Asian market.

This book is a unique compilation of comprehensive works covering the potentials, challenges, and realities of geographical indications from an Indian perspective. The book encompasses critical studies on legal, regulatory, and institutional frameworks and debates surrounding geographical indications. The concept of geographical indication has not received paramount importance in India compared to the other forms of intellectual property rights like patents and trademarks, while GI is becoming critical in national and international discourses. It aims at presenting both national and international situations and discussions, which will appeal to readers worldwide. This book in its first part elaborately deals with the genesis of the GI Act, and then it goes on to analyze both substantive as well as procedural aspects of the registration under the Indian GI Act and tries to identify the discrepancy and gaps in the laws. Also, a comparative perspective has been built by analyzing the GI laws and regulations of some developed countries with that of India. The challenges in existing regulation for quality control and enforcement of GI products in the Indian GI Act have been dealt comprehensively by the authors which are critical in achieving the stated objectives of the Act. The book also focuses on the role of geographical indication in the socio-economic development of rural India. The authors have illustrated how the GI can act as an effective mechanism for employment generation and sustainable growth opportunities in different sectors like agriculture, food, and handicraft. The interaction of GI with traditional knowledge and biodiversity and their impact on society is also extensively covered. The book contains real-life case studies by the authors from different states of India highlighting the success stories and missed opportunities of different GIs and the way forward where the GI can function as an effective tool for the overall development of a country and promote international trade. The book will provide law students, scholars from legal and IP disciplines, legal practitioners, producers, and policymakers a factual and multidimensional insight into the GI system in India. This will further promote research in this area, particularly from an Asian perspective and enhance the real-life application of GI to varied products.

Introductory textbooks on American government tell us that the Supreme Court is independent from the elected branches and that independent courts better protect rights than their more deferential counterparts. But are these facts or myths? In this groundbreaking new work, Anna Harvey reports evidence showing that the Supreme Court is in fact extraordinarily deferential to congressional preferences in its constitutional rulings. Analyzing cross-national evidence, Harvey also finds that the rights protections we enjoy in the United States appear to be largely due to the fact that we do not have an independent Supreme Court. In fact, we would likely have even greater protections for political and economic rights were we to prohibit our federal courts from exercising judicial review altogether. Harvey's findings suggest that constitutional designers would be wise to heed Thomas Jefferson's advice to "let mercy be the character of the law-giver, but let the judge be a mere machine."

Records from London's Guildhall reveal the workings of the law in the eighteenth century. For centuries, the City of London's Lord Mayor and Aldermen have headed various courts and tribunals as part of their official obligations. In the City's Guildhall, Londoners from all walks of life could appear before an aldermansitting as a magistrate in the "justice room" and initiate a criminal complaint when they were the victims of crime. But what actually happened in those initial hearings between the accuser, the accused and the magistrate has remained largely obscured to history. These records shed light on the earliest phases of a criminal prosecution and reveal the routines of criminal justice administration in the eighteenth-century metropolis. From the fragmentaryminutes of the proceedings conducted before London's aldermen, who sat for a part of every working day as Justices of the Peace, we learn of the petty squabbles of the City's poor with parish officials, the ready resort to physical violence in public and private spheres, the steady campaign against prostitution, and the growing professionalism of the parish constables who policed London before the arrival of the Metropolitan Police.The records will be ofinterest to historians of London, social historians of crime, genealogists and scholars interested in summary or pre-trial procedures in early modern England; they are presented here with introduction and explanatory notes. Greg T. Smith is Associate Professor of History at the University of Manitoba.

Marketing for Attorneys and Law Firms presents timely topics which are well-researched and written by a fine array of authors from around the country. As attorneys are becoming more interested in marketing and how it can benefit their practices, this book is an important tool. It aids attorneys as they evaluate and improve old marketing strategies and create new marketing strategies where such advertising was neglected. It is an ideal readings text for today's attorney and legal consultants who wish to obtain a better insight into select aspects of marketing the law firm.This is the only readings book that focuses on these areas: applications of marketing planning, attorney selection by consumers, and client and provider attitudes toward legal services. Part Two thoroughly examines various aspects of how clients select and evaluate the performance of legal services. Today's attorneys must first fully understand what their clients perceive about their services before jumping into marketing their services. This section provides insight that most attorneys would normally not investigate and lays the groundwork for the development of marketing programs. Part Three addresses the wide use of legal advertising, and again provides insight into what clients and attorneys think and perceive about various forms of advertising the law firm. This provides a base from which attorneys who are planning to advertise may be able to prevent failure and promote a greater level of success for the advertising program.Applied mainly to private legal practices and clinics, some of the specific topics covered in the three sections include consumers'perceptions of attorneys and legal advertising; attorneys'perceptions of marketing and advertising; perceived risk in selecting an attorney and how consumers actually select attorneys; customer/client service attributes for attorneys; measuring the effectiveness of legal advertising; market planning and strategies for today's legal practice; promoting the legal practice; and developing referral and networking systems in legal practice.For attorneys in private practice, law firm libraries and administrators, law professors who specialize in practice development, consultants who concentrate in legal practice marketing, law school libraries, and marketing professors and consultants who teach or consult in the professional service sectors should read this invaluable reference book.

Marketing for Attorneys and Law Firms presents timely topics which are well-researched and written by a fine array of authors from around the country. As attorneys are becoming more interested in marketing and how it can benefit their practices, this book is an important tool. It aids attorneys as they evaluate and improve old marketing strategies and create new marketing strategies where such advertising was neglected. It is an ideal readings text for today's attorney and legal consultants who wish to obtain a better insight into select aspects of marketing the law firm. This is the only readings book that focuses on these areas: applications of marketing planning, attorney selection by consumers, and client and provider attitudes toward legal services. Part Two thoroughly examines various aspects of how clients select and evaluate the performance of legal services. Today's attorneys must first fully understand what their clients perceive about their services before jumping into marketing their services. This section provides insight that most attorneys would normally not investigate and lays the groundwork for the development of marketing programs.Part Three addresses the wide use of legal advertising, and again provides insight into what clients and attorneys think and perceive about various forms of advertising the law firm. This provides a base from which attorneys who are planning to advertise may be able to prevent failure and promote a greater level of success for the advertising program. Applied mainly to private legal practices and clinics, some of the specific topics covered in the three sections include consumers'perceptions of attorneys and legal advertising; attorneys'perceptions of marketing and advertising; perceived risk in selecting an attorney and how consumers actually select attorneys; customer/client service attributes for attorneys; measuring the effectiveness of legal advertising; market planning and strategies for today's legal practice; promoting the legal practice; and developing referral and networking systems in legal practice.For attorneys in private practice, law firm libraries and administrators, law professors who specialize in practice development, consultants who concentrate in legal practice marketing, law school libraries, and marketing professors and consultants who teach or consult in the professional service sectors should read this invaluable reference book.

The book is written by an author with a lot of teaching experience, at a university which is proactively developing SQE focussed courses. He has already amassed a huge number of practice MCQs. Part of the SQE1 series, which offers problem questions, revision points, MCQs and also, for Business Law and Practice, commercial awareness talking points. The series is designed around the needs of students preparing for SQE1, and each book follows a similar format. There is an online hub of support material for each book. Offers a combination of print and online material that differs from the few other offerings currently on the market.

An exploration of how and why the Constitution's plan for independent courts has failed to protect individuals' constitutional rights, while advancing regressive and reactionary barriers to progressive regulation. Just recently, the Supreme Court rejected an argument by plaintiffs that police officers should no longer be protected by the doctrine of "qualified immunity" when they shoot or brutalize an innocent civilian. "Qualified immunity" is but one of several judicial inventions that shields state violence and thwarts the vindication of our rights. But aren't courts supposed to be protectors of individual rights? As Aziz Huq shows in The Collapse of Constitutional Remedies, history reveals a much more tangled relationship between the Constitution's system of independent courts and the protection of constitutional rights. While doctrines such as "qualified immunity" may seem abstract, their real-world harms are anything but. A highway patrol officer stops a person's car in violation of the Fourth Amendment, violently yanked the person out and threw him to the ground, causing brain damage. A municipal agency fires a person for testifying in a legal proceeding involving her boss's family-and then laughed in her face when she demanded her job back. In all these cases, state defendants walked away with the most minor of penalties (if any at all). Ultimately, we may have rights when challenging the state, but no remedies. In fact, federal courts have long been fickle and unreliable guardians of individual rights. To be sure, through the mid-twentieth century, the courts positioned themselves as the ultimate protector of citizens suffering the state's infringement of their rights. But they have more recently abandoned, and even aggressively repudiated, a role as the protector of individual rights in the face of abuses by the state. Ironically, this collapse highlights the position that the Framers took when setting up federal courts in the first place. A powerful historical account of the how the expansion of the immunity principle generated yawning gap between rights and remedies in contemporary America, The Collapse of Constitutional Remedies will reshape our understanding of why it has become so difficult to effectively challenge crimes committed by the state.

The simple reason for creating this book was my impression that the law is having an increasing impact on the practice of medicine. There is hardly a physician I know who has not been deeply troubled by legal problems professionally, economically, and most important of all, psychologically. The past decade has seen medical practice premiums steadily rising. Multimillion dollar verdicts have not been unusual. Having disregarded these vital issues for many years, physicians have suddenly become very aware of litigation-related problems. Having been interested for a long time in the logic ofthe law and the romance of legal research, I thought it would be useful to create a book that would result in the blending of great minds in law and medicine. It has been my long standing observation and belief that the approach of professors of medicine, and that of learned members of the bar and bench, when put together, produce unique results. Putting these views together has been the real challenge in editing this book."

This book deals with one of the greatest challenges for the judiciary in the 21st century. It reflects on the judiciary's role in reviewing administrative discretion in the administrative state; a role that can no longer solely be understood from the traditional doctrine of the Trias Politica. Traditionally, courts review acts of administrative bodies implying a degree of discretion with quite some restraint. Typically it is reviewed whether the decision is non-arbitrary or whether there is no manifest error of assessment. The question arises though as to whether the concern regarding ensuring the non-arbitrary character of the exercise of administrative power, which is frequently performed at a distance from political bodies, goes far enough to guarantee that the administration exercises its powers in a legitimate way. This publication searches for new modes of judicial review of administrative discretion exercised in the administrative state. It links state-of-the-art academic research on the role of courts in the administrative state with the daily practice of the higher and lower administrative courts struggling with their position in the evolving administrative state. The book concludes that with the changing role and forms of the administrative state, administrative courts across the world and across sectors are in the process of reconsidering their roles and the appropriate models of judicial review. Learning from the experiences in different sectors and jurisdictions, it provides theoretical and empirical foundations for reflecting on the advantages and disadvantages of different models of review, the constitutional consequences and the main questions that deserve further research and debate. Jurgen de Poorter is professor of administrative law at Tilburg University and deputy judge in the District Court of The Hague. Ernst Hirsch Ballin is distinguished university professor at Tilburg University, professor in human rights law at the University of Amsterdam, and president of the T.M.C. Asser Institute for International and European Law. He is also a member of the Scientific Council for Government policy (WRR). Saskia Lavrijssen is professor of Economic Regulation and Market Governance of Network Industries at Tilburg University.

"On the Supreme Court" places the Supreme Court in a rich historical and political context, demonstrating how its interpretations of statutes and the Constitution are necessarily shared with the elected branches, the 50 states, and the general public. It explains why the Court exercises judicial review, not judicial supremacy. It demonstrates that, contrary to popular opinion, the Court does not supply the final or exclusive word on the Constitution. In an era of tectonic changes, "On the Supreme Court" offers a fresh perspective on this mainstay institution from a scholar with unique insights as a Constitutional specialist as well as a Congressional researcher.Key features of the text: "

The exoneration of more than two hundred and fifty people who have been wrongfully convicted makes it clear that America's criminal justice system isn't foolproof. It's important to understand the causes of wrongful conviction in order to find solutions to this growing problem.Edited by one of the nation's leading legal scholars and two of her top students, this collection of essays examines critical issues, including what American justice in the age of innocence looks like; how to implement procedural mechanisms to ensure the integrity of the judicial system while safeguarding the public; whether or not the legal system is doing a good enough job uncovering wrongful convictions.This anthology provides insightful lessons based on cutting-edge research and legal analysis. Wrongful convictions are not a foregone conclusion, but the justice system must break free from a pattern of punishing innocent people and go after the true culprits. Written for judges, lawyers and scholars alike, "American Justice in the Age of Innocence" educates the public and helps current prisoners who are innocent contest their wrongful convictions.

View the Table of Contents.
Read the Introduction.

"Lee's book is a compelling and well-informed analysis of the issues raised when courts confront questions of reasonableness in high-profile, headline-grabbing cases."
-- "Choice"

"Lee challenges readers to question the concept of 'reasonableness' and how it has been applied. . . Scholars, students, professionals and the educated public will appreciate the careful, well-documented argument and pertinent examples."
--"Library Journal"

"Ms. Lee offers an extended argument for reforming the provocation doctrine by requiring judges and jurors to reflect more carefully about the reasonableness of the defendant's behavior."
--"The Chronicle of Higher Education"

aEven readers who do not view Leeas recommendations through a theoretical lens will be drawn to Leeas suggestions as practical solutions to the complicated social norms problem she has identified."
--"Michigan Law Review"

"Provocative and persuasive. In this well-written and meticulously documented book, Cynthia Lee demonstrates how the law has defined 'reasonableness' in criminal law to favor men against women, straight men against gay men, and whites against blacks. Lee's synthesis of many seemingly different examples, with thoughtful responses to the various objections that might be raised, is legal scholarship that can make a difference in our social practices. This is a serious and compelling book that should lead to reform."
--Frank H. Wu, author of "Yellow: Race in America beyond Black and White"

A man murders his wife after she has admitted her infidelity; another man kills an openly gay teammate after receiving a massage; a third man, white, goes for a jog in a "bad" neighborhood, carrying a pistol, and shoots an African American teenager who had his hands in his pockets. When brought before the criminal justice system, all three men argue that they should be found "not guilty"; the first two use the defense of provocation, while the third argues he used his gun in self-defense.

Drawing upon these and similar cases, Cynthia Lee shows how two well-established, traditional criminal law defenses--the doctrines of provocation and self-defense--enable majority-culture defendants to justify their acts of violence. While the reasonableness requirement, inherent in both defenses, is designed to allow community input and provide greater flexibility in legal decision-making, the requirement also allows majority-culture defendants to rely on dominant social norms, such as masculinity, heterosexuality, and race (i.e., racial stereotypes), to bolster their claims of reasonableness. At the same time, Lee examines other cases that demonstrate that the reasonableness requirement tends to exclude the perspectives of minorities, such as heterosexual women, gays and lesbians, and persons of color.

Murder and the Reasonable Man not only shows how largely invisible social norms and beliefs influence the outcomes of certain criminal cases, but goes further, suggesting three tentative legal reforms to address problems of bias and undue leniency. Ultimately, Lee cautions that the true solution lies in a change in social attitudes.