Posts Tagged ‘Posner’
Henry Friendly, Greatest Judge of His Era. By David M. Dorsen
Henry Friendly, Greatest Judge of His Era. By David M. Dorsen. Foreword by Richard A. Posner. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press 2012, ISBN: 0674064399; 9780674064393
Henry Friendly is frequently grouped with Oliver Wendell Holmes, Louis Brandeis, Benjamin Cardozo, and Learned Hand as the best American jurists of the twentieth century. In this first, comprehensive biography of Friendly, David M. Dorsen opens a unique window onto how a judge of this caliber thinks and decides cases, and how Friendly lived his life.
During his time on the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1959–1986), Judge Friendly was revered as a conservative who exemplified the tradition of judicial restraint. But he demonstrated remarkable creativity in circumventing precedent and formulating new rules in multiple areas of the law. Henry Friendly, Greatest Judge of His Era describes the inner workings of Friendly’s chambers and his craftsmanship in writing opinions. His articles on habeas corpus, the Fourth Amendment, self-incrimination, and the reach of the state are still cited by the Supreme Court.
Dorsen draws on extensive research, employing private memoranda between the judges and interviews with all fifty-one of Friendly’s law clerks—a veritable Who’s Who that includes Chief Justice John R. Roberts, Jr., six other federal judges, and seventeen professors at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and elsewhere. In his Foreword, Judge Richard Posner writes: “David Dorsen has produced the most illuminating, the most useful, judicial biography that I have ever read… We learn more about the American judiciary at its best than we can learn from any other… Some of what I’ve learned has already induced me to make certain changes in my judicial practice.”
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The Perils of Global Legalism, by Eric A. Posner
The Perils of Global Legalism, by Eric A. Posner
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Read an excerpt.
University Of Chicago Press, 2009
ISBN-10: 0226675742
ISBN-13: 9780226675749.
Review
This carefully argued book provides a useful corrective to the frequent assumption, held by many American legal academics and European elites, that the world’s problems can be substantially reduced simply by creating more international law and institutions. As the book persuasively explains, only through rigorous thinking about the limits of what law and courts can accomplish in a heterogeneous and fragmented global system can we achieve more effective international cooperation. Rich in theoretical and interdisciplinary insights, the book also illustrates its claims with numerous real-world examples, both contemporary and historic, making it accessible to a wide audience.–Curtis Bradley, Duke Law School (Curtis Bradley, Duke Law School )
This trenchant and rigorous book provides a much-needed antidote to the sanctimony and sermonizing that permeates international law. It lays bare international law’s circularity and demonstrates that much of the edifice is built on illusion. The `establishment’ will be forced into contortions to answer its arguments. It’s a bracing, refreshingly and altogether scintillating read.–Michael J. Glennon, author of Limits of Law, Prerogatives of Power
Table of Contents
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