Books by Austin Sarat

Book SynopsisWhy do some lawyers devote themselves to a given social movement or political cause? How are such deeds of individual commitment and personal belief justly executed, given the ideals of disinterested professional service to which lawyers are (in theory, at least) supposed to adhere? What can we learn from such lawyers about the relationship between law and politics?Cause Lawyering is a wise and varied collection of responses to these questions, featuring a number of distinguished legal scholars concerned with anti-poverty lawyers, lawyers who work against capital punishment, immigration lawyers, and other lawyers working to end oppression. Editors Austin Sarat and Stuart Scheingold have assembled here a valuable cross-national portrait of lawyers compelled to sacrifice financial gain so as to use their legal skills in the promotion of a more just society. These telling and important essays fully explore the relationship between cause lawyering and the organized legal professions of manTrade ReviewThis is a fascinating and important book. Fascinating because it examines a wide variety of situations in which lawyers have sought to use their professional skills to further political goals, to "do good", at least by their own lights. Important because it documents the stuggle of lawyers in several countries to vindicate human rights and to assert the rulke of law in the face of repressive regimes in varoius shades. * Peter Kunzlik, Nottingham Law Journal Vol 8(2) 1999 *"Cause Lawyering offers a fascinating collection of empirical and theoretical work on a topic of considerable importance. This book also provides a set of tools and organizing principles that should reinvigorate both national and comparative studies of what has become a neglected sector of the legal profession--those trying to improve the lives of the disadvantaged."--Bryant Garth, Director of the American Bar Foundation"Cause Lawyering is a comprehensive, transnational description and analysis of lawyers who put social goals ahead of client considerations. In elegant and provocative terms, Professors Sarat and Scheingold and their colleagues tell us what cause lawyers do, who they are, why they are committed to social causes, and what they accomplish. These lawyers, frequently working at the margins of legal systems and rarely well-paid, are the true statespeople of the legal profession and it is fitting that their efforts be analyzed by such an accomplished and thoughtful group of sociolegal scholars."--William L. F. Felstiner, Distinguished Research Professor of Law, University of Wales, Cardiff"Very strong....There is not a bad essay in the collection; some of the essays are strikingly fresh and original. The range of essays, extending to cause lawyering in various undeveloped societies and contrasting these with the liberal societies of the West, is especially impressive. The essays are, on the average, so much better than anything else in their field that they set a new standard for the study of cause lawyers....A first-rate collection...there is nothing I know of in print that approaches it in quality and breath."--Robert Gordon, Yale Law SchoolTable of ContentsCause Lawyering and the Reproduction of Professional Authority: An Introduction ; CONTEXTS AND CONDITIONS OF CAUSE LAWYERING ; The Causes of Cause Lawyering: Toward an Understanding of the Motivation and Commitment of Social Justice Lawyers ; Speaking Law to Power: Occasions for Cause Lawyering ; The Struggle to Politicize Legal Practice: A Case Study of Left-Activist Lawyering in Seattle ; CAUSE LAWYERING AND THE ORGANIZATION OF PRACTICE ; Norris, Schmidt, Green, Harris, Higginbotham & Associates: The Socio-Legal Impact of Philadelphia Cause Lawyers ; Still Trying: Cause Lawyering for the Poor and Disadvantaged in Pittsburg, PA ; Critical Lawyers: Social Justice and the Structure of Private Practice ; Destruction of Houses and Construction of a Cause: Lawyers and Bedouins in the Israeli Courts ; STRATEGIES OF CAUSE LAWYERING UNDER LIBERAL LEGALISM ; Rethinking Law's Allurements: A Relational Analysis of Social Movement Lawyers in the United States ; Caring about Individual Cases: Immigration Lawyering in Britain ; Between (the Presence of) Violence and (the Possibility of) Justice: Lawyering against Capital Punishment ; THE POSSIBILITIES OF CAUSE LAWYERING BEYOND LIBERAL LEGALISM ; Cause Lawyering in the Third World ; Lawyers' Causes in Indonesia and Malaysia ; Attorneys for the People, Attorneys for the Land: The Emergence of Cause Lawyering in the Israel-Occupied Territories ; Cause Lawyers and Social Movements: A Comparative Perspective on Democratic Change in Argentina and Brazil ; All or Nothing: An Inquiry into the (Im)Possibility of Cause Lawyering under Cuban Socialism ; REFERENCES

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsPART I. WHEN LAW FAILS; SECTION 1. THE LIMITS OF LEGAL PROTECTION; SECTION 2. WHAT LAW IS FOR; PART II. THE SEARCH FOR LAW; SECTION 3. THREE DILEMMAS OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATION; PART III. ACCESS TO JUSTICE: THE DEMAND FOR LAW AND LAW'S DEMANDS; SECTION 4. LINING UP AT THE DOOR OF LAW; SECTION 5. LAWYERS IN CIVIL CASES; SECTION 6. WHOSE LAW IS IT ANYWAY?; SECTION 7. WHO SPEAKS AND WHO IS HEARD: THE CONTINUING SIGNIFICANCE OF CLASS; PART IV. SEVERITY AND LENIENCY: ADMINISTERING A SYSTEM OF DISCRETIONARY JUSTICE; SECTION 8. FROM SEVERITY TO LENIENCY: PLEA BARGAINING AND THE POSSIBILITY OF JUSTICE; SECTION 9. LAWYERS IN CRIMINAL CASES; SECTION 10. JURIES IN CRIMINAL CASES: BIASED OR CONSCIENTIOUS JUDGMENT; SECTION 11. SENTENCING; PART V. ORGANIZING LAW'S VIOLENCE; SECTION 12. POLICING THE POLICE; SECTION 13. PUNISHMENT: IMPRISONMENT; SECTION 14. THE DEATH PENALTY: CONTROLLING JURIES/PREVENTING DISCRIMINATION; SECTION 15. THE FUTURE OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

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Book SynopsisExamines how the lives of individuals, social groups, and nations are fashioned by their engagement with the law.

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Book SynopsisThe Blackwell Companion to Law and Society is an authoritative study of the relationship between law and social interaction. Thirty--three original essays by an international group of expert scholars examine a wide range of critical questions.Trade Review"This collection of law and society scholarship fills a gap that many of us in the field have lamented for years. Encyclopedic in scope, it manages to represent the rich diversity of the field while still making a strong case for a law and society "canon". It is bound to become a classic." Kitty Calavita, University of California, Irvine "Austin Sarat and his contributors have compiles a valuable and authoritative introduction to a substantial body of scholarship and reflection on the relationship between law and society. this will be an essential resource for both novice and experienced workers in this field." Robert Dingwall, University of NottinghamTable of ContentsPreface. List of Contributors. 1. Vitality Amidst Fragmentation: On the Emergence of Post-Realist Law and Society Scholarship:. Austin Sarat (Amherst College). Part I: Perspectives on the History and Significance of Law and Society Research:. 2. Law in Social Theory, And Social Theory in the Study of Law: Roger Cotterrell (University of London). 3. Profession, Science, and Culture: An Emergent Canon of Law and Society Research: Carroll Seron (Baruch College of the City University of New York) and Susan S. Silbey (M.I.T). Part II: The Cultural Life of Law:. 4. The Work of Rights and the Work Rights Do: A Critical Empirical Approach: Laura Beth Nielsen (American Bar Foundation). 5. Consciousness and Ideology: Patricia Ewick (Clark University). 6. Law in Popular Culture: Richard Sherwin (New York Law School). 7. Comparing Legal Cultures: David Nelken (University of Macerata). Part III. Institutions and Actors:. 8. The Police and Policing: Jeannine Bell (Indiana University). 9. Professional Power: Lawyers and the Constitution of Professional Authority: Tanina Rostain (New York Law School). 10. Courts and Judges: Lee Epstein (Washington University) and Jack Knight (Washington University). 11. Jurors and Juries: Valerie P. Hans (University of Delaware) and Neil Vidmar (Duke University). 12. Regulators and Regulatory Processes: Robert Kagan (University of California, Berkeley). 13. The Legal Lives of Private Organizations: Lauren B. Edelman (University of California-Berkeley). Part IV. Domains of Policy:. 14. Legal Regulation of Families in Changing Societies: Susan Boyd (University of British Columbia). 15. Culture, “Kulturkampf” and Beyond: The Antidiscrimination Principle Under the Jurisprudence of Backlash: Francisco Valdes (University of Miami). 16. The Government of Risk: Pat O’Malley (Carleton University). 17. Thinking About Criminal Justice: Socio-Legal Expertise and the Modernization of American Criminal Justice: Jonathan Simon (University of California, Berkeley). 18. Rights in the Shadow of Class: Poverty, Welfare, and the Law: Frank Munger (New York Law School). 19. Immigration: Susan Sterett (University of Denver). 20. Commodity Culture, Private Censorship, Branded Environments, and Global Trade Politics: Intellectual Property as a Topic of Law and Society Research: Rosemary J. Coombe (York University). 21. Legal Categorizations and Religion: On Politics of Modernity, Practices, Faith, and Power: Gad Barzilai (Tel-Aviv University). 22. The Role of Social Science in Legal Decisions: Jonathan Yovel (University of Haifa) and Elizabeth Mertz (University of Wisconsin). Part V. How Does Law Matter?. 23. Procedural Justice: Tom Tyler (New York University). 24. A Tale of Two Genres: On the Real and Ideal Links Between Law & Society and Critical Race Theory: Laura Gomez (UCLA). 25. The Constitution of Identity: Gender, Feminist Legal Theory and the Law and Society Movement: Nicola Lacey (Australian National University). 26. Sexuality, Law and Society: Leslie J. Moran (Birkbeck College, University of London). 27. Law and Social Movements: Michael McCann (University of Washington). 28. “The Dog That Didn’t Bark:” A Soci0-Legal Tale of Law, Democracy and Elections: Stuart Scheingold (University of Washington). Part VI. Studying Globalization: Past, Present, Future:. 29. Ethnographies of Law: Eve Darian-Smith (University of California, Santa Barbara). 30. Colonial and Post-Colonial Law: Sally Merry (Wellesley College). 31. Human Rights: Lisa Hajjar (University of California-Santa Barbara). 32. The Rule of Law and Economic Development in a Global Era: Kathryn Hendley (University of Wisconsin). 33. Economic Globalization and the Law in the 21st Century: Francis Snyder (Université d'Aix-Marseille III, Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales et Communautaires). Index

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Book SynopsisArguing that the capital punishment must be stopped, this book exposes us to the realities of state killing and examines its foundations in ideas about revenge and retribution. It takes us inside the courtroom of a capital trial, and presents interviews with jurors and lawyers who make decisions about life and death.Trade Review"Sarat's analysis of the controversies surrounding capital punishment is both broad and deep."--Booklist "Sarat makes a persuasive argument here for the abolition of the death penalty."--Library Journal "Engaging and accessible ... this impassioned work raises a number of provocative questions about America's love affair with the death penalty."--Publisher's Weekly "Challenges readers to consider why the U.S. continues to execute inmates when most other Western democracies have abandoned the practice. [Sarat asks] readers to examine the role every citizen plays in carrying out the death penalty, even if he or she never enters a courtroom."--Steve Mills, Chicago Tribune "At the heart of When the State Kills is the notion that there is no way to square capital punishment with democratic values... [A] powerful and eloquent case for the abolition of the death penalty."--William Vance Trollinger, Christian Century "The strength of the book lies in the attention the author gives to the connections between capital punishment and broader cultural and political issues... As a result, this is one of the most original and lively books on capital punishment in a long time."--John Langan, America "A powerful, penetrating account of the death penalty process and its cultural concomitants."--David Garland, Punishment and Society "By introducing a popular audience to the core insights of cultural/legal analysis and then showing why those insights are relevant to public policy, Sarat has helped to advance both an interdisciplinary academic field and an important societal debate. And that is high praise indeed."--Paul Berman, Columbia Law Review "A fresh and insightful contribution to the discourse on capital punishment."--Harvard Law Review "A volume that is strikingly successful in fulfilling its author's pledge to disclose 'new narrative possibilities in the conversation about state killing.'"--Timothy Kaufman Osborn, Yale Law Journal "When the State Kills remains appropriate for the 21st Century, perhaps now more than ever."--David S. Mann, Law and Politics Book Review "[A] passionate and thoughtful book."--Andrew Norris, American Political Science Review "Valuable for its creative, yet hard-headed effort to confront the meaning of the death penalty in American culture, this book attends to capitol punishment as killing and citizens as killers... Aside from its compelling contribution to study of the death penalty, this timely book is splendid cultural critique and commentary."--EthicsTable of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Chapter 1 Introduction: "If Timothy McVeigh Doesn't Deserve to Die, Who Does?" 3 PART ONE State Killing and the Politic of Vengeance 31 Chapter 2 The Return of Revenge: Hearing the Voice of the Victim in Capital Trials 33 Chapter 3 Killing Me Softly: Capital Punishment and the Technologies for Taking Life 60 PART TWO State Killing in the Legal Proce 85 Chapter 4 Capital Trials and the Ordinary World of State Killing 87 Chapter 5 The Role of the Jury in the Killing State 126 Chapter 6 Narrative Strategy and Death Penalty Advocacy: Attempting to Save the Condemned 158 PART THREE The Cultural Life of Capital Punishment 185 Chapter 7 To See or Not To See: On Televising Executions 187 Chapter 8 State Killing in Popular Culture: Responsibility and Representation in Dead Man Walking, Last Dance, and The Green Mile 209 Chapter 9 Conclusion: Toward New Abolitionism 246 Notes 261 Index 315

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Book SynopsisUses the lens of executive clemency in capital cases to discuss the fraught condition of mercy in American political life. This book examines the history of capital clemency in the twentieth century and surrounding legal controversies and philosophical debates about when mercy should be extended.Trade ReviewWinner of the 2006 James Boyd White Prize, Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities "Professor Sarat is a merciless researcher ... and provides an arresting account of mercy in the modern age that will engage readers on all sides of the debate."--Harvard Law Review "A multi-layered and thought-provoking book... Mercy on Trial is an important contribution to death penalty jurisprudence. In an era when the death penalty debate focuses so heavily on tinkering with the machinery, it is inspiring to come across such a well-written call to respond to the higher instincts within us: the instincts to empathize and forgive."--JaneAnne Murray, New York Law Journal "Austin Sarat has written yet another thoughtful and thought-provoking book on the death penalty... Sarat clearly and profoundly considers if, how, and when executive branches of government should use [clemency] with respect to the death penalty."--Choice "This book is rich in detail for those who care about these issues. Its observation that clemency is disorderly when framed only as mercy is well-taken. There are, fortunately, other good reasons for granting clemency."--Edward Kent, Law and Politics Book Review "This book is a welcome and most original addition to this troubling topic."--John Cooper, Times (London) "Mercy on Trial offers several insights for those interested in crime, law and capital punishment. It is at once a theoretically sophisticated treatment of the role of mercy and clemency in a liberal legal system, as well as a concise history of 20th-century mass capital clemencies. But perhaps most importantly, Mercy on Trial provides a nuanced analysis of Governor Ryan's high-profile and controversial mass commutation."--Paul J. Kaplan, Theoretical Criminology "Austin Sarat deftly deconstructs recent examples of clemency to illustrate the illusion of mercy in the clemency process."--Daniel P. Patrykus, Wisconsin LawyerTable of ContentsAcknowledgments xi Chapter 1: Mercy, Clemency, and Capital Punishment 1 The Illinois Story Chapter 2: Capital Clemency in the Twentieth Century 33 Putting Illinois in Context Chapter 3: The Jurisprudence of Clemency 69 What Place for Mercy? Chapter 4: Governing Clemency 94 From Redemption to Retribution Chapter 5: Clemency without Mercy 116 George Ryan's Dilemma Chapter 6: Conclusion 143 On Mercy and Its Risks Appendix A: George Ryan: 163 "I Must Act" Appendix B: Capital Clemency, 1900-2004 181 Commutations by State Appendix C: Chronology of Capital Clemency, 1900-2004 189 Commutations by Governor Notes 259 Index 317

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Book SynopsisPresenting a diverse array of articles by an interdisciplinary group of scholars, this work covers social science disciplines and law. Some articles in this issue examine the interactions of law and "vulnerable" populations. Other articles focus on indigenous groups and particular legal controversies in which they are involved.Table of ContentsPart I: Legal Acts and "Vunerable" Populations. 'Different Approaches Need to be Taken in Different Settings' - Situating Activist Prison Lawyering: The Struggle for HIV-Positive Prisoner's Rights. (B. Fluery-Steiner). Scapegoating the Vulnerable: Preventive Detention of Immigrants in America's 'War on Terror'. (A.U. Bali). Sanctuary Discourse, Powers, and Legal Narratives. (R. Lippert). Beyond Stork Delivery: From Injury to Autonomy in Reconceptualising 'Harm' in Wrongful Pregnancy. (N.M. Priaulx). Part II: Law and Indigenous Groups. A Legal Trauma, A Public Trauma: Lindy Chamberlain and The Chamberlain Case. (D. Staines). Intangibles, Appropriation, and Intellectual Property Law: The Problem(s) with Copyright for Native American Oral Traditions. (E. Clark).

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Book SynopsisThe Worlds Cause Lawyers Make examines the connections between lawyers and causes, the settings in which cause lawyers practice, and the ways they marshal social capital and make strategic decisions.Trade Review"The research Sarat and Scheingold present here substantially transforms our understanding of cause lawyering and the legal profession and makes an important contribution to the field. The essays in this volume represent a wide variety of cause lawyering settings, in terms of political orientation, nationality, and structure of practice." -Richard Abel, UCLA School of Law "Yet again, Sarat and Scheingold advance the cause of cause lawyering as surely the most successful collective project on the legal profession. This volume of illuminating case studies from across the world will inspire a new generation of morally and politically committed lawyers to recognize their prospects of bringing justice to an unjust world." -Terence C. Halliday, Northwestern University and Research Fellow for the American Bar FoundationTable of ContentsContents Contributors Introduction: The Dynamics of Cause Lawyering: Constraints and Opportunities 1 Austin Sarat and Stuart Scheingold Section I: Causes and the Lawyers Who Serve Them: How Do Causes Make Their Lawyers and Lawyers Make Their Causes 1. Corporate Responsibility and the South African Drug Wars: New Frontier for Cause Lawyers 37 Ronen Shamir 2. A Political-Professional Commitment? French Workers' and Unions' Lawyers as Cause Lawyers 000 Laurent Willemez 3. Professional Identities and Political Commitment among Lawyers for Conservative Causes 000 Ann Southworth 4. Economic Libertarians, Property, and Institutions: Linking Activism, Ideas, and Identities among Property Rights Advocates 000 Laura Hatcher 5. From Cause Lawyering to Resistance: French Communist Lawyers in the Shadow of History (1929-1945) 000 Liora Israel Section II: Making a Practice: Balancing Professionalism and Activism 6. Supporting a Cause, Developing a Movement, and Consolidating a Practice: Cause Lawyers and Sexual Orientation Litigation in Vermont 000 Scott Barclay and Anna-Maria Marshall 7. Exploring the Sources of Cause and Career Correspondence among Cause Lawyers 000 Lynn C. Jones 8. Dilemmas of "Progressive" Lawyering: Empowerment and Hierarchy 000 Corey S. Shdaimah 9. Negotiating Cause Lawyering Potential in the Early Years of Corporate Practice 000 Douglas Thomson Section III. Strategy and Social Capital 10. Cause Lawyers and Judicial Community in Israel: Legal Change in a Diffuse, Normative Community 000 Patricia J. Woods 11. Transgressive Cause Lawyering in the Developing World: The Case of India 000 Jayanth K. Krishnan 12. Cause Lawyering for Collective Justice: A Case Study of the Amparo Colectivo in Argentine 000 Stephen Meili 13. Asylum Law Practice in the United Kingdom after the Human Rights Act 000 Richard J. Maiman 14. ATLA Shrugged: Why Personal Injury Lawyers Are Not Public Defenders of Their Own Causes 000 Michael McCann and William Haltom AFTERWORD: In the End, or the Cause of Law 000 Peter Fitzpatrick Index

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Book SynopsisHow does the way we think and feel about the world around us affect the existence and administration of the death penalty? What role does capital punishment play in defining our political and cultural identity?After centuries during which capital punishment was a normal and self-evident part of criminal punishment, it has now taken on a life of its own in various arenas far beyond the limits of the penal sphere. In this volume, the authors argue that in order to understand the death penalty, we need to know more about the cultural livespast and presentof the state's ultimate sanction. They undertake this cultural voyage comparativelyexamining the dynamics of the death penalty in Mexico, the United States, Poland, Kyrgyzstan, India, Israel, Palestine, Japan, China, Singapore, and South Koreaarguing that we need to look beyond the United States to see how capital punishment lives or dies in the rest of the world, how images of state killing are produced and consumed elseTrade Review"In fifteen chapters, they [Sarat and Boulanger] take the reader on a capital punishment odyssey through not only the US, but also central and south Asia, the Middle East, Kyrgyzstan, India, Israel, Palestine, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea. In a nutshell, this is a book well worth reading for those interested in exploring cross-cultural treatments of the death penalty."—CHOICETable of ContentsContents Contributors 000 1. Putting Culture into the Picture: Toward a Comparative Analysis of State Killing 000 Christian Boulanger and Austin Sarat Part I: Civilization and Punishment: Self and Other in Europe and the Americas 2. Nineteenth-Century Executions as Performances of Law, Death, and Civilization 000 Jurgen Martschukat 3. Seed of Abolition: Experience and Culture in the Desire to End Capital Punishment in Mexico, 1841-1857 000 Patrick Timmons 4. The Cultural Lives of Capital Punishment in the United States 000 Judith Randle 5. European Identity and the Mission Against the Death Penalty in the United States 000 Evi Girling 6. Crime and Punishment/Self versus Other: The Cultural Life of Capital Punishment Comparative Perspective of European and American Film 000 Louise Tyler 7. Capital Punishment in Poland: An Aspect of the "Cultural Life" of the Death Penalty Discourse 000 Agata Fijalkowski Part II: State Killing and State Violence in Central and South Asia and the Middle East 8. Capital Punishment in Kyrgyzstan: Between the Past, "Other" State Killings and Social Demands 000 Botagoz Kassymbekova 9. Death and the Nation: State Killing in India 000 Julia Eckert 10. Imagining the Death Penalty in Israel: Punishment, Violence, Vengeance, and Revenge 000 Shai J. Lavi 11. The Palestinian Culture of Death: Shariah and Siyasah: Justice, Political Power, and Capital Punishment in the Palestinian National Authority 000 Judith Mendelsohn Rood Part III: Paternal States, "Asian Values," and Visions of Social Order: Capital Punishment in East and Southeast Asia 12. Saving State Face: Capital Punishment in Japan 000 David T. Johnson 13. What Is Wrong with Capital Punishment? Official and Unofficial Attitudes Toward Capital Punishment in Modern and Contemporary China 000 Virgil K. Y. Ho 14. Capital Punishment and the Culture of Developmentalism in Singapore 000 Alfred Oehlers and Nicole Tarulevicz 15. Ending State Killing in South Korea: Challenging the Asian Capital Punishment Status Quo 000 Sangmin Bae Index

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Book SynopsisThis collection brings together well-established scholars to examine the limits of law, a topic that has been of broad interest since the events of 9/11 and the responses of U.S. law and policy to those events.Trade Review"T]he essays collected in The Limits of Law, and the editors' well-crafted introductory essay, present 'law' in all of its richness and complexity."--Law and Politics Book Review

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Book SynopsisThe essays assembled in How Law Knows provide a sample of the diversity, responsiveness, and influence that law's knowledge practices have on legal outcomes and the world beyond law.Trade Review"This work raises new questions while also reexamining standard socio-legal issues in refreshing ways. The result is a rich and innovative look at the routines of truth seeking and fact finding."—Patricia Ewick, Clark University"How Law Knows is a useful and interesting collection addressing law's ways of knowing. The authors reveal that the establishment and organized use of legal facts is varied, historical, and amenable to a rich and diverse set of methods of inquiry."—Jon Goldberg-Hiller, University of Hawaii, ManoaTable of ContentsContents contributors000 Complexity, Contingency, and Change in Law's Knowledge Practices: An Introduction000 austin sarat, lawrence douglas, and martha merrill umphrey with connor clarke "Fact" and the Proof of Fact in Anglo American Law c. 1500-1850000 barbara j. shapiro Theoretical and Methodological Issues in the Study of Legal Knowledge Practices000 mariana valverde Legal Realism as Psychological and Cultural (Not Political) Realism000 Donald Braman and Dan M. Kahan How Law Knows in the American Trial Court000 robert p. burns Fact-Finding in Constitutional Cases000 david l. faigman index000

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Book SynopsisLaw and the Sacred explores questions about the foundational role of the sacred in the constitution of law, both historically and theoretically.Trade Review"[An} interesting collection, worthy of attention by scholars in a variety of fields."—CHOICE"Law and the Sacred brings together original and stimulating interdisciplinary work on the complex interdependence of law and religion. Indeed, the authors expand well beyond simple categories of law and religion to explore the more interesting and novel nuances of laws of the sacred and the sacrilization of law."—David Mednicoff, University of Massachusetts"The essays in this volume push well beyond the boundaries of more familiar research on the relationship between politics and religion. Exploring topics as diverse as Islamic legal theory, the 2000 U.S. presidential election, Kafka's The Trial, and the contemporary constitution of sovereign politicalpower, the contributors call into question any easy opposition between the sacred and the secular, and so unsettle a central myth of Enlightenment modernism."—Timothy V. Kaufman-Osborn, Whitman CollegeTable of ContentsTable of Contents The Sacred in Law: An Introduction Martha Umphrey, Austin Sarat, Lawrence Douglas The Profanity of Law Nomi Stolzenberg Pragmatic Rule and Personal Sanctification in Islamic Legal Theory Marion Holmes Katz Our Papalist Supreme Court: Is Reformation Thinkable (or Possible)? Sanford Levinson The Ethos of Sovereignty William Connolly The Triumph of a Departed World: Law, Modernity, and the Sacred Peter Fitzpatrick Index

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Book SynopsisThe study of catastrophe is a growth industry. Today, cosmologists scan the heavens for asteroids of the kind that smashed into earth some ninety million years ago, leading to the swift extinction of the dinosaurs. Climatologists create elaborate models of the chaotic weather and vast flooding that will result from the continued buildup of greenhouse gases in the planet''s atmosphere. Terrorist experts and homeland security consultants struggle to prepare for a wide range of possible biological, chemical, and radiological attacks: aerated small pox virus spread by a crop duster, botulism dumped into an urban reservoir, a dirty bomb detonated in a city center.Yet, strangely, law''s role in the definition, identification, prevention, and amelioration of catastrophe has been largely neglected. The relationship between law and other limiting conditionssuch as states of emergencyhas been the subject of rich and growing literature. By contrast, little has been written about law andTrade Review"Law and Catastrophe is an edited collection that explores this inextricable and symbiotic relationship between these two concepts in the short span of five chapters. It presents to the reader a witty and often engaging group of literary essays that dissect various guises of how law and catastrophe interpenetrate."—Law and Politics Book Review"Law and Castastrophe offers a diverse and fascinating set of essays. There has never been a more urgent need for such a work on catastrophe and law." —Anthony J. Sebok, Brooklyn Law School"This cogent work is based on the insight that, even when it proves itself palpably unable to deal with catastrophe, law can yet reassert itself, reproducing the bases of its authority over and over again. Indeed, this very act of reassertion is revealed to be the basis of legal authority itself. This book is a must read for any scholar interested in seeing the performance of law when its veneer of total control and stability have been stripped away." —James R. Martel, San Francisco State UniversityTable of ContentsContents Acknowledgments 000 Contributors 000 A Jurisprudence of Catastrophe: An Introduction 000 Lawrence Douglas, Austin Sarat, Martha Umphrey Catastrophe: Plowing Up the Ground of Reason 000 Linda Ross Meyer Catastrophes and Humanitarian Corporate Responsibility: A Conceptual Critique 000 Ronen Shamir Political Catastrophe and Liberal Legal Desire: Two Stories of Revolution, Remediation, and Return from the French Nineteenth Century 000 Sylvia Schafer Committed to Memory: Rebecca West's Nuremberg 000 Ravit Pe'er-Lamo Reichman Mandating the National Memory of Catastrophe 000 James E. Young Index 000

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Book SynopsisLaw depends on various modes of classification. How an act or a person is classified may be crucial in determining the rights obtained, the procedures employed, and what understandings get attached to the act or person. Critiques of law often reveal how arbitrary its classificatory acts are, but no one doubts their power and consequence. This crucial new book considers the problem of law''s physical control of persons and the ways in which this control illuminates competing visions of the law: as both a tool of regulation and an instrument of coercion or punishment. It examines various instances of punishment and regulation to illustrate points of overlap and difference between them, and captures the lived experience of the state''s enterprise of subjecting human conduct to the governance of rules. Ultimately, the essays call into question the adequacy of a view of punishment and/or regulation that neglects the perspectives of those who are at the receiving end of these exercTrade Review"This book's broad range of approaches to the relationship between punishment and regulation is refreshing and engaging. There are no works that offer anything like the variety that this collection offers. The diversity of views, and the consequent appreciation of the complexity of the issues, makes this a truly valuable addition to the literature."—Carol Steiker, Harvard Law School"This is one of the best collections of essays I have encountered. The intersections between the pieces make it a truly exceptional resource. It will be a standard in the field."—Keally McBride, University of San Francisco

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Book SynopsisThis book reminds us that examining the right to privacy and the public/private distinction is an important way of mapping the forms and limits of power that can legitimately be exercised by collective bodies over individuals and by governments over their citizens.Trade Review"Imagining New Legalities advances our thinking about powerful political and cultural challenges embedded in our efforts to improve our understanding of the law. This is a truly thoughtful, timely, and well-grounded collection of essays."—William Lyons, University of Akron

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Book SynopsisThis volume explores the ways law both traffics in and regulates secrecy.Trade Review"Rather than fall into an easy rendering of law as either requiring transparency or secrecy, this volume reveals that this distinction is itself a false dichotomy. It points out the paradox that the very idea of transparency itself relies to some extent on keeping sources a secret, and treats the question of law and its relationship to secrecy with delicacy and sophistication."—James Martel, San Francisco State University"This compelling interdisciplinary volume raises the timely question of transparency in law and governance. Sarat, Douglas, and Umphrey deliver a rich, nuanced exploration in this new collection of essays that will prove useful for students of law, politics, and humanities."—Sara Murphy, New York University

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Book SynopsisLaw and War explores the cultural, historical, spatial, and theoretical dimensions of the relationship between law and wara connection that has long vexed the jurisprudential imagination. Historically the term war crime struck some as redundant and others as oxymoronic: redundant because war itself is criminal; oxymoronic because war submits to no law. More recently, the remarkable trend toward the juridification of warfare has emerged, as law has sought to stretch its dominion over every aspect of the waging of armed struggle. No longer simply a tool for judging battlefield conduct, law now seeks to subdue warfare and to enlist it into the service of legal goals. Law has emerged as a force that stands over and above war, endowed with the power to authorize and restrain, to declare and limit, to justify and condemn. In examining this fraught, contested, and evolving relationship, Law and War investigates such questions as: What can efforts to subsume war under tTrade Review"Enhanced with the inclusion of a comprehensive index, Law and War is a collective work of outstanding scholarship and a highly recommended addition to academic library Judicial Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists."—Midwest Book Review"Law and War offers deep, rigorous, and diverse reflections on the potential, and peril, for law's efforts to humanize war. This is a valuable addition in a field of growing significance to legal, political, and policy scholars, and beyond."—David Mednicoff, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

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Book SynopsisLaw and the Utopian Imagination seeks to explore and resuscitate the notion of utopianism within current legal discourse. The idea of utopia has fascinated the imaginations of important thinkers for ages. And yetwho writes seriously on the idea of utopia today? The mid-century critique appears to have carried the day, and a belief in the very possibility of utopian achievements appears to have flagged in the face of a world marked by political instability, social upheaval, and dreary market realities. Instead of mapping out the contours of a familiar terrain, this book seeks to explore the possibilities of a productive engagement between the utopian and the legal imagination. The book asks: is it possible to re-imagine or revitalize the concept of utopia such that it can survive the terms of the mid-century liberal critique? Alternatively, is it possible to re-imagine the concept of utopia and the theory of liberal legality so as to dissolve the apparent antagonism betTrade Review"This book of six essays on law and the utopian imagination is written by scholars from a wide array of disciplines, including English literature, fine arts, art history and cultural studies, political science, and legal philosophy and jurisprudence. The result is wide ranging and highly stimulating. Although the topics seem almost at odds with one other, the authors each pursue a unique tangent and tap into their particular areas of expertise to tease out exceptionally interesting logical constructions and conclusions as to the meaning and relationship of imagined utopias and legal strictures."—Andrew Fair, H-Net

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"We have harnessed the power to annihilate life on earth. Yet we still can't seem to extinguish, quickly, painlessly, and reliability, a single human life. Gruesome Spectacles tells us why. With his bright, clear, and extra-ordinary prose, Austin Sarat raises many disturbing and profound questions—not only about botched executions—but about State authorized killings made on behalf of the American people. A gripping and provocative read." -- Richard Moran * Mount Holyoke College *"Sarat's chronicle of how executions were bungled, mishandled, or failed is crucial to the evolution of the methods, and thus to the penalty itself . . . Sarat's comprehensive and even exhaustive effort provides a reference that all involved in criminal justice, and especially capital punishment, must take into account." -- Jon M. Sands and Dale A. Baich * Jurimetrics: The Journal of Law, Science and Technology *"Austin Sarat's spellbinding book has captured the spirit of his agile mind. Gruesome Spectacles is provocatively written and sure to keep readers keenly interested in the captivating stories of many death row prisoners. This book will hook you from the first chapter and continue to fascinate you throughout its journey. A must-read." -- Charles Ogletree * author of All Deliberate Speed and The Presumption of Guilt *"Sarat is mostly sucessful in navigating these dangerous waters of describing the gruesomeness of botched executions without making them just a spectacle or systematic failure of people or equipment. His success is a result of balancing accounts from a variety of sources, situating his work in the social sciences and legal studies." -- David Fazzino * Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania *"America has no more incisive scholar of capital punishment than Austin Sarat, who always has something fresh to say. Gruesome Spectacles offers readers new and provocative insights." -- Scott Turow * author of Ultimate Punishment: A Lawyer's Reflections on Dealing with the Death Penalty *"Absolutely eloquently written." -- Ray Paternoster * The Historian *

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Book SynopsisTakes an interdisciplinary approach to the legal challenges posed by the criminal wrongdoing of governmentsTrade ReviewIf, as all the authors in this volume concede, Bush Administration violations can be prosecuted for their alleged crimes, shouldnt we, in accordance with the rule of law, proceed with such prosecutions. This, however, is just the jumping off point. This is a great book precisely because the authors clearly succeed in demonstrating the complexity and problems with each seemingly simple solution. Neither solution, prosecuting or not prosecuting, will leave the reader completely satisfied, but this is exactly the point... Using law to legalize something which cannot be legalized raises the question of what, exactly, is the role that law plays in its own subversion. The essays in this volume take a meaningful and helpful step in the direction of answering this question. * Concurring Opinions *While we think of the crimes of the Bush-Cheney administration as lying somewhere in the past, the aggressive wars, warrantless spying, lawless imprisonment, and torture continue. This collection looks deeply into one likely way to end these crimes, namely enforcing the laws against them. Included are serious and informed voices both for and against prosecution. -- David Swanson,author of Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect UnionTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Responding to Government Lawlessness: What Does the Rule of Law Require? Nasser Hussain and Austin Sarat 1 Vindicating the Rule of Law: Prosecuting Free Riders on Human Rights Claire Finkelstein 2 Guantanamo in the Province of The Hague? Daniel Herwitz 3 Universal Jurisdiction as Praxis: An Option to Pursue Legal Accountability for Superpower Torturers Lisa Hajjar 4 The Spider's Web: How Government Lawbreakers Routinely Elude the Law Stephen Holmes 5 Democracy as the Rule of Law Paul Horwitz 6 Justice Jackson, the Memory of Internment, and the Rule of Law after the Bush Administration Stephen I. Vladeck About the Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisHow have prospects for abolishing the death penalty changed since the 1972 Supreme Court decision, Furman v Georgia? The editor and contributors to Death Penalty in Decline? assess the contemporary death penalty landscape and look at the trends in and attitudes toward capital punishment and its abolition. They highlight factors that are propelling alternatives to the death penalty as well as the obstacles to ending it. At a time when the United States is undertaking an unprecedented national reconsideration of the death penalty, Death Penalty in Decline? seeks to evaluate how abolitionists might succeed today. Contributors: John Bessler, Corinna Barrett Lain, James R. Martel, Linda Ross Meyer, Carol S. Steiker, Jordan M. Steiker, and the editor

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Book SynopsisHow have prospects for abolishing the death penalty changed since the 1972 Supreme Court decision, Furman v Georgia? The editor and contributors to Death Penalty in Decline? assess the contemporary death penalty landscape and look at the trends in and attitudes toward capital punishment and its abolition. They highlight factors that are propelling alternatives to the death penalty as well as the obstacles to ending it. At a time when the United States is undertaking an unprecedented national reconsideration of the death penalty, Death Penalty in Decline? seeks to evaluate how abolitionists might succeed today. Contributors: John Bessler, Corinna Barrett Lain, James R. Martel, Linda Ross Meyer, Carol S. Steiker, Jordan M. Steiker, and the editor

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Book SynopsisAn analysis of how problematic laws ought to be framed and consideredFrom the murder of George Floyd to the systematic dismantling of voting rights, our laws and their implementation are actively shaping the course of our nation. But however abhorrent a legal decision might bewhether Dred Scott v. Sanford or Plessy v. Fergusonthe stories we tell of the law's failures refer to their injustice and rarely label them in the language of infamy. Yet in many instances, infamy is part of the story law tells about citizens' conduct. Such stories of individual infamy work on both the social and legal level to stigmatize and ostracize people, to mark them as unredeemably other. Law's Infamy seeks to alter that course by making legal actions and decisions the subject of an inquiry about infamy. Taken together, the essays demonstrate how legal institutions themselves engage in infamous actions and urge that scholars and activists label them as such, highlighting the damage done when law itself actsTrade ReviewA compelling examination by a diverse group of scholars on the historical, political, cultural and social meanings of ‘legal infamy.’ No one in the field of interdisciplinary law and culture studies has had more success than Austin Sarat at using the thematic essay anthology as a platform for robust, and rigorous, intellectual engagement. Law’s Infamy is poised to become a significant contribution to the field. -- Kendall Thomas, co-editor of Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Founded the MovementAn excellent, challenging, and thought-provoking book whose essays position many instances of complicity and ‘infamy’ into thoughtful, compelling, and unusual juxtaposition. The move to discuss the ‘anti-canon’ of ‘infamous’ cases is a brilliant approach to the problem of judicial complicity. -- Linda R. Meyer, Quinnipiac UniversityContributors to Sarat, Douglas, and Umphrey’s volume ask when and why the word ‘infamy’ should be used to characterize legal decisions or actions. They consider how legal institutions themselves engage in infamous actions, and they urge that scholars and activists identify infamous decisions that are worthy of repudiation and label them as such, highlighting the damage done when law itself acts infamously. * Law and Social Inquiry *

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Book SynopsisAn analysis of how problematic laws ought to be framed and consideredFrom the murder of George Floyd to the systematic dismantling of voting rights, our laws and their implementation are actively shaping the course of our nation. But however abhorrent a legal decision might bewhether Dred Scott v. Sanford or Plessy v. Fergusonthe stories we tell of the law's failures refer to their injustice and rarely label them in the language of infamy. Yet in many instances, infamy is part of the story law tells about citizens' conduct. Such stories of individual infamy work on both the social and legal level to stigmatize and ostracize people, to mark them as unredeemably other. Law's Infamy seeks to alter that course by making legal actions and decisions the subject of an inquiry about infamy. Taken together, the essays demonstrate how legal institutions themselves engage in infamous actions and urge that scholars and activists label them as such, highlighting the damage done when law itself actsTrade Review"A compelling examination by a diverse group of scholars on the historical, political, cultural and social meanings of ‘legal infamy.’ No one in the field of interdisciplinary law and culture studies has had more success than Austin Sarat at using the thematic essay anthology as a platform for robust, and rigorous, intellectual engagement. Law’s Infamy is poised to become a significant contribution to the field." -- Kendall Thomas, co-editor of Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Founded the Movement"An excellent, challenging, and thought-provoking book whose essays position many instances of complicity and ‘infamy’ into thoughtful, compelling, and unusual juxtaposition. The move to discuss the ‘anti-canon’ of ‘infamous’ cases is a brilliant approach to the problem of judicial complicity. " -- Linda R. Meyer, Quinnipiac University"Contributors to Sarat, Douglas, and Umphrey’s volume ask when and why the word ‘infamy’ should be used to characterize legal decisions or actions. They consider how legal institutions themselves engage in infamous actions, and they urge that scholars and activists identify infamous decisions that are worthy of repudiation and label them as such, highlighting the damage done when law itself acts infamously." * Law and Social Inquiry *

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Book SynopsisWith a history marked by incompetence, political maneuvering, and secrecy, America's "most humane" execution method is anything but. From the beginning of the Republic, this country has struggled to reconcile its use of capital punishment with the Constitution's prohibition of cruel punishment. Death penalty proponents argue both that it is justifiable as a response to particularly heinous crimes, and that it serves to deter others from committing them in the future. However, since the earliest executions, abolitionists have fought against this state-sanctioned killing, arguing, among other things, that the methods of execution have frequently been just as gruesome as the crimes meriting their use. Lethal injection was first introduced in order to quell such objections, but, as Austin Sarat shows in this brief history, its supporters' commitment to painless and humane death has never been certain. This book tells the story of lethal injection's earliest iterations in the United States, starting with New York state's rejection of that execution method almost a century and half ago. Sarat recounts lethal injection's return in the late 1970s, and offers novel and insightful scrutiny of the new drug protocols that went into effect between 2010 and 2020. Drawing on rare data, he makes the case that lethal injections during this time only became more unreliable, inefficient, and more frequently botched. Beyond his stirring narrative history, Sarat mounts a comprehensive condemnation of the state-level maneuvering in response to such mishaps, whereby death penalty states adopted secrecy statutes and adjusted their execution protocols to make it harder to identify and observe lethal injection's flaws. What was once touted as America's most humane execution method is now its most unreliable one. What was once a model of efficiency in the grim business of state killing is now marked by mayhem. The book concludes by critically examining the place of lethal injection, and the death penalty writ large, today. Trade Review"This book does more to unmask lethal injection's everyday cruelty than any other book that I know. Sarat writes with clarity and compassion, and anyone interested in justice would be well advised to read his words."—Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking"Macabre and painstakingly detailed, this book puts to rest any illusions that lethal injection is clean, safe or painless. This little book doesn't let us get away with abstract debates and intellectual complacency. It lands like a gut punch."—Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-8),"This enormously readable book uncovers the troubled history and failed promise of lethal injection, and is sure to help change our national conversation about capital punishment."—Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times-bestselling author"Sarat vividly delineates the historical, social, legal, and ideological forces governing capital punishment and their implications and ramifications for individuals, the criminal justice system, and society. In a highly charged political era, this book is a timely education in capital punishment, executions, law, race relations, and social and legal reform—a must-read for all people interested in better understanding the application of the death penalty and those vested in positive transformation. Highly recommended."—M. G. Urbina, CHOICE"Lethal Injection and the False Promise of Humane Executionchronicles a significant, comprehensive, and insightful analysis of the history and evolutionary process of lethal injection executions in the United States, as well as the false promise of the perceived humanity of this method of execution. This ground-breaking book provides a thoughtful analysis including: the origins of lethal injection in this country, collapse of the original protocol of three-drugs (at issue in theBaze v. Reescase), a decade of botched executions from 2010-2020, state responses to these flagrant errors, and implications for futile reform and the future of capital punishment itself."—Talia Roitberg Harmon, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice BooksTable of Contents1. One Week in the World of Lethal Injection 2. The Origins of Lethal Injection 3. The Collapse of the Original Paradigm 4. A Decade of Mishaps 5. State Responses 6. Failure, Reform, and the Future

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Book SynopsisProvides a resource for teachers interested in learning about the field of law and literature and shows how to bring its insights to bear in their classrooms, both in the liberal arts and in law schools. Essays in the first section, “Theory and History of the Movement,” provide a retrospective of the field and look forward to new developments. The second section, “Model Courses,” offers readers an array of possibilities for structuring courses that integrate legal issues with the study of literature, from The Canterbury Tales to current prison literature. In “Texts,” the third section, guidance is provided for teaching not only written documents (novels, plays, trial reports) but also cultural objects: digital media, Native American ceremonies, documentary theater, hip-hop. The volume’s contributors investigate what constitutes law and literature and how each informs the other.

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Book SynopsisKey binaries like public/private and speech/conduct are mainstays of the liberal legal system. However, the pairing of criminal/enemy has received little scholarly attention by comparison. Bringing together a group of distinguished and disciplinarily diverse scholars, Criminals and Enemies, the most recent volume in the Amherst Series in Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought, addresses this gap in the literature. Drawing on political philosophy, legal analysis, and historical research, this essential volume reveals just how central the criminal/enemy distinction is to the structure and practice of contemporary law.The editors' introduction situates criminals and enemies in a theoretical context, focusing on the work of Thomas Hobbes and Carl Schmitt, while other essays consider topics ranging from Germany's denazification project to South Africa's pre- and post-apartheid legal regime to the complicating factors introduced by the war on terror. In addition to the editors, the contributors include Stephen Clingman, Jennifer Daskal, Sara Kendall, Devin Pendas, and Annette Weinke.

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Book SynopsisWeapons have been a source of political and legal debate for centuries. Aristotle considered the possession of arms a fundamental source of political power and wrote that tyrants ""mistrust the people and deprive them of their arms."" Today ownership of weapons - whether handguns or military-grade assault weapons - poses more acute legal problems than ever before. In this volume, the editors' introduction traces the history of gun control in the United States, arguing that until the 1980s courts upheld reasonable gun control measures. The contributors confront urgent questions, among them the usefulness of history as a guide in ongoing struggles over gun regulation, the changing meaning of the Second Amendment, the perspective of law enforcement on guns and gun control law, and individual and relational perspectives on gun rights.The contributors include the editors and Carl T. Bogus, Jennifer Carlson, Saul Cornell, Darrell A.H. Miller, Laura Beth Nielsen, and Katherine Shaw.

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Book SynopsisDoes the law shield citizens from authoritarian regimes? Are the core beliefs of classical liberalism—namely the rights of all individuals and constraints on state power—still protected by law? Liberalism and its expansion of rights could not exist without the legal system, and unsurprisingly, many scholars have explored the relationship between law and liberalism. However, the study of law and illiberalism is a relatively recent undertaking, a project that takes on urgency in light of the rise of authoritarian powers, among them Donald Trump's administration, Viktor Orban's Hungary, Recep Erdogan's Turkey, and Jair Bolsanoro's Brazil.In this volume, six penetrating essays explore the dynamics of the law and illiberal quests for power, examining the anti-liberalism of neoliberalism; the weaponization of "free speech"; the role of the administrative state in current crises of liberal democracy; the broad and unstoppable assault on facts, truth, and reality; and the rise of conspiracism leading up to the Capitol insurrection. In addition to the editors, contributors include Sharon Krause, Elizabeth Anker, Jeremy Kessler, Lee McIntyre, and Nancy Rosenblum.

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