Winner of the Thomas M. Cooley Book Prize, Georgetown Center on the
Constitution Why do self-proclaimed constitutional
“originalists” so regularly reach decisions with a politically
conservative valence? Do “living constitutionalists” claim a
license to reach whatever results they prefer, without regard to
the Constitution’s language and history? In confronting these
questions, Richard H. Fallon reframes and ultimately transcends
familiar debates about constitutional law, constitutional theory,
and judicial legitimacy. Drawing from ideas in legal scholarship,
philosophy, and political science, Fallon presents a theory of
judicial legitimacy based on an ideal of good faith in
constitutional argumentation. Good faith demands that the Justices
base their decisions only on legal arguments that they genuinely
believe to be valid and are prepared to apply to similar future
cases. Originalists are correct about this much. But good faith
does not forbid the Justices to refine and adjust their
interpretive theories in response to the novel challenges that new
cases present. Fallon argues that theories of constitutional
interpretation should be works in progress, not rigid formulas laid
down in advance of the unforeseeable challenges that life and
experience generate. Law and Legitimacy in the Supreme Court offers
theories of constitutional law and judicial legitimacy that accept
many tenets of legal realism but reject its corrosive cynicism.
Fallon’s account both illuminates current practice and prescribes
urgently needed responses to a legitimacy crisis in which the
Supreme Court is increasingly enmeshed.
General
Imprint: |
Harvard University Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
February 2018 |
Authors: |
Richard H. Fallon
|
Dimensions: |
156 x 235 x 23mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover
|
Pages: |
196 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-674-97581-1 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
0-674-97581-2 |
Barcode: |
9780674975811 |
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