Deliberation governed by rules of procedure is a mainstay of constitution writing in the American states. Following the federal example, each of the fifty states has had at least one constitutional convention[1] in the course of its history, where delegates from a state gathered to deliberate and collectively author that state’s foundational text. As Jon…
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Gautham Rao: Dispatches from a Challenging Year
With the new year on the horizon, I wanted to take another opportunity to check in with our readers about the past year. It has been a year full of big changes for Law and History Review and The Docket as we’ve had treasured colleagues leave the journal, outstanding new colleagues join us, and all…
Allen Boyer reviews Tate, Power and Justice in Medieval England and Eldridge, Law and the Medieval Village Community
Joshua C. Tate, Power and Justice in Medieval England: The Law of Patronage and the Royal Courts (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2022). ISBN 9780300163834. Pp. xiv, 255. $55 / £45. Lorren Eldridge, Law and the Medieval Village Community; Reinvigorating Historical Jurisprudence (Abingdon: Routledge, 2023). ISBN 9781032375557. Pp. xiv, 238. $180 / £135. Joshua Tate,…
Jerry Edwards reviews Barbas, Actual Malice: Civil Rights and Freedom of the Press in New York Times v. Sullivan
Samantha Barbas, Actual Malice: Civil Rights and Freedom of the Press in New York Times v. Sullivan (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2024). $26.95 (paperback). 290 pages. Samantha Barbas’s Actual Malice concerns one of the most important cases in American history about the First Amendment of the United States Constitution’s Bill of Rights: New York…
Tim Thornton: The Isle of Man, Channel Islands and Statutes of the English Parliament to 1640
Editor’s Note: Dr. Thornton’s article, “The Isle of Man, Channel Islands and Statutes of the English Parliament, to 1640: Development and Change in Territorial Extent,” is forthcoming in Law & History Review. My article on territorial extent in English statutes in period up to the mid-sixteenth century considers the changing ambition of English regimes and…
Lawrence Goldstone–Arms and the Common Man: Standing Army, Militia, and the Second Amendment in the United States.
For decades, military spending has been the largest item in the United States federal budget. With the continued demand for weapons systems and myriad military logistical needs, a thriving domestic economy has, to some significant degree, become reliant on the defense budget remaining high. In addition, few Americans question the need for a well-funded, well-equipped,…
Ryan Reft: United States v. Nixon
In August of 1973, Justice Harry A. Blackmun addressed the American Bar Association at its annual prayer breakfast. Blackmun referenced the biblical story of Nehemiah, who upon return from Babylonian exile discovered Jerusalem in ruins. “The pall of Watergate,” Blackmun told the audience was similar. “There is a sadness all about us … The very…
Gautham Rao–Big Changes at Law and History Review
As we approach the midway point of 2024, I wanted to take a moment to fill you in on some big changes at Law and History Review (LHR), and to glimpse at some big developments to come. First, I want to thank our readers for continuing to make The Docket such a success! We continue…
Barbara Lauriat: A ‘first’ Case at Common Law
Robinson & Roberts v. Wheble (1771): A New “First” Trademark Case at Common Law The origins of trademark law have long been disputed; some legal scholars recognize JG v. Samford or Sanford’s Case (1584),[1] later described in Southern v. How, 79 Eng. Rep. 1243 (1618) as a case in which a clothier had misappropriated his…
Lawrence Goldstone–Unreliable Narrator: The Federalist Essays.
In his majority opinion in Printz v. United States, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government could not compel state and local officials to perform background checks on people seeking to buy guns, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote, “Because there is no constitutional text speaking to this precise question, the answer to the…challenge must be…