The Rule of Five

The Rule of Five

Author: Richard J. Lazarus

Publisher: Belknap Press

Published: 2020-03-10

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 0674238125

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Winner of the Julia Ward Howe Prize “The gripping story of the most important environmental law case ever decided by the Supreme Court.” —Scott Turow “In the tradition of A Civil Action, this book makes a compelling story of the court fight that paved the way for regulating the emissions now overheating the planet. It offers a poignant reminder of how far we’ve come—and how far we still must go.” —Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature On an unseasonably warm October morning, an idealistic young lawyer working on a shoestring budget for an environmental organization no one had heard of hand-delivered a petition to the Environmental Protection Agency, asking it to restrict greenhouse gas emissions from new cars. The Clean Air Act authorized the EPA to regulate “any air pollutant” thought to endanger public health. But could carbon dioxide really be considered a harmful pollutant? And even if the EPA had the authority to regulate emissions, could it be forced to do so? The Rule of Five tells the dramatic story of how Joe Mendelson and the band of lawyers who joined him carried his case all the way to the Supreme Court. It reveals how accident, infighting, luck, superb lawyering, politics, and the arcane practices of the Supreme Court collided to produce a legal miracle. The final ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA, by a razor-thin 5–4 margin brilliantly crafted by Justice John Paul Stevens, paved the way to important environmental safeguards which the Trump administration fought hard to unravel and many now seek to expand. “There’s no better book if you want to understand the past, present, and future of environmental litigation.” —Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction “A riveting story, beautifully told.” —Foreign Affairs “Wonderful...A master class in how the Supreme Court works and, more broadly, how major cases navigate through the legal system.” —Science


The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

Author: David Gardner Chardavoyne

Publisher: Wayne State University Press

Published: 2012-03-15

Total Pages: 458

ISBN-13: 0814337201

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A chronological history of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, from its beginnings in the 1830s to the present. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the federal trial court based in Detroit with jurisdiction over the eastern half of Michigan, was created in 1837 and operated as recently as 1923 with a single trial judge. Yet by 2010, the court had fifteen district judges, a dozen senior U.S. district judges and U.S. magistrate judges, and conducts court year-round in five federal buildings throughout the eastern half of Michigan (in Detroit, Bay City, Flint, Port Huron, and Ann Arbor). In The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan: People, Law, and Politics, author David Gardner Chardavoyne details not only the growth of the court but the stories of its judges and others who have served the court, litigants who brought their conflicting interests to the court for resolution, and the people of the district who have been affected by the court. In chronological order, Chardavoyne charts the history of the court, its judges, and its major cases in five parts: The Wilkins Years, 1837 to 1870; The Industrial Revolution and the Gilded Age, 1870 to 1900; Decades of Tumult, 1900 to 1945; The Era of Grand Expectations, 1946 to 1976; and A Major Metropolitan Court, 1977 to 2010. Along the way, Chardavoyne highlights many issues of national concern faced by the court, including cases dealing with fugitive slave laws, espionage and treason, civil rights, and freedom of speech. Chardavoyne also examines how conflicting interests—political, local, and personal—have influenced the resolution of a myriad of issues not directly related to the court’s cases, such as who becomes a federal judge, how many judges the court should have, in which cities and in which buildings the judges hold court, what kinds of cases the judges can and cannot hear, and the geographical boundaries of the district and of divisions within the district. This volume includes helpful appendixes that list the Eastern District of Michigan Court’s Chief Judges, Clerks, Magistrates and Magistrate Judges, and United States Marshals; along with the succession of judges, and a list of District and Circuit Court Case Filings, 1837–2010. Legal professionals and scholars will appreciate this thorough history.


Law and Legitimacy in the Supreme Court

Law and Legitimacy in the Supreme Court

Author: Richard H. Fallon

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2018-02-19

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 0674975812

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Legitimacy and judicial authority -- Constitutional meaning : original public meaning -- Constitutional meaning : varieties of history that matter -- Law in the Supreme Court : jurisprudential foundations -- Constitutional constraints -- Constitutional theory and its relation to constitutional practice -- Sociological, legal, and moral legitimacy : today and tomorrow


51 Imperfect Solutions

51 Imperfect Solutions

Author: Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018-05-07

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 0190866063

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When we think of constitutional law, we invariably think of the United States Supreme Court and the federal court system. Yet much of our constitutional law is not made at the federal level. In 51 Imperfect Solutions, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton argues that American Constitutional Law should account for the role of the state courts and state constitutions, together with the federal courts and the federal constitution, in protecting individual liberties. The book tells four stories that arise in four different areas of constitutional law: equal protection; criminal procedure; privacy; and free speech and free exercise of religion. Traditional accounts of these bedrock debates about the relationship of the individual to the state focus on decisions of the United States Supreme Court. But these explanations tell just part of the story. The book corrects this omission by looking at each issue-and some others as well-through the lens of many constitutions, not one constitution; of many courts, not one court; and of all American judges, not federal or state judges. Taken together, the stories reveal a remarkably complex, nuanced, ever-changing federalist system, one that ought to make lawyers and litigants pause before reflexively assuming that the United States Supreme Court alone has all of the answers to the most vexing constitutional questions. If there is a central conviction of the book, it's that an underappreciation of state constitutional law has hurt state and federal law and has undermined the appropriate balance between state and federal courts in protecting individual liberty. In trying to correct this imbalance, the book also offers several ideas for reform.


Alwd Citation Manual

Alwd Citation Manual

Author: Darby Dickerson

Publisher: Aspen Publishers

Published: 2010-06-01

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9780735595415

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ALWD Citation Manual: A Professional System of Citation, now in its Fourth Edition, upholds a single and consistent system of citation for all forms of legal writing. Clearly and attractively presented in an easy-to-use format, edited by Darby Dickerson, a leading authority on American legal citation, the ALWD Citation Manual is simply an outstanding teaching tool. Endorsed by the Association of Legal Writing Directors, (ALWD), a nationwide society of legal writing program directors, the ALWD Citation Manual: A Professional System of Citation, features a single, consistent, logical system of citation that can be used for any type of legal document complete coverage of the citation rules that includes: - basic citation - citation for primary and secondary sources - citation of electronic sources - how to incorporate citations into documents - how to quote material and edit quotes properly - court-specific citation formats, commonly used abbreviations, and a sample legal memorandum with proper citation in the Appendices two-color page design that flags key points and highlights examples Fast Formatsquick guides for double-checking citations and Sidebars with facts and tips for avoiding common problems diagrams and charts that illustrate citation style at a glance The Fourth Edition provides facsimiles of research sources that a first-year law student would use, annotated with the elements in each citation and a sample citation for each flexible citation options for (1) the United States as a party to a suit and (2) using contractions in abbreviations new rules addressing citation of interdisciplinary sources (e.g., plays, concerts, operas) and new technology (e.g., Twitter, e-readers, YouTube video) updated examples throughout the text expanded list of law reviews in Appendix 5 Indispensable by design, the ALWD Citation Manual: A Professional System of Citation, Fourth Edition, keeps on getting better


Model Rules of Professional Conduct

Model Rules of Professional Conduct

Author: American Bar Association. House of Delegates

Publisher: American Bar Association

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 9781590318737

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The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.


The Schoolhouse Gate

The Schoolhouse Gate

Author: Justin Driver

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2019-08-06

Total Pages: 578

ISBN-13: 0525566961

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A Washington Post Notable Book of the Year A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice An award-winning constitutional law scholar at the University of Chicago (who clerked for Judge Merrick B. Garland, Justice Stephen Breyer, and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor) gives us an engaging and alarming book that aims to vindicate the rights of public school stu­dents, which have so often been undermined by the Supreme Court in recent decades. Judicial decisions assessing the constitutional rights of students in the nation’s public schools have consistently generated bitter controversy. From racial segregation to un­authorized immigration, from antiwar protests to compul­sory flag salutes, from economic inequality to teacher-led prayer—these are but a few of the cultural anxieties dividing American society that the Supreme Court has addressed in elementary and secondary schools. The Schoolhouse Gate gives a fresh, lucid, and provocative account of the historic legal battles waged over education and illuminates contemporary disputes that continue to fracture the nation. Justin Driver maintains that since the 1970s the Supreme Court has regularly abdicated its responsibility for protecting students’ constitutional rights and risked trans­forming public schools into Constitution-free zones. Students deriving lessons about citizenship from the Court’s decisions in recent decades would conclude that the following actions taken by educators pass constitutional muster: inflicting severe corporal punishment on students without any proce­dural protections, searching students and their possessions without probable cause in bids to uncover violations of school rules, random drug testing of students who are not suspected of wrongdoing, and suppressing student speech for the view­point it espouses. Taking their cue from such decisions, lower courts have upheld a wide array of dubious school actions, including degrading strip searches, repressive dress codes, draconian “zero tolerance” disciplinary policies, and severe restrictions on off-campus speech. Driver surveys this legal landscape with eloquence, highlights the gripping personal narratives behind landmark clashes, and warns that the repeated failure to honor students’ rights threatens our basic constitutional order. This magiste­rial book will make it impossible to view American schools—or America itself—in the same way again.