POLI 104J Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: American Law Institute, Precedent, Originalism
4 Jun 2020
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Document Summary
Written by those not in (or not acting in) law making capacity. Not law itself, but can further analysis in several ways. Locating the law: provide references to primary authority (statutes, cases, other sources) Provide background/history of a case not in the primary authority. Provides broad perspective when you"ve been focused on the fine points of each statue/case. Provide alternative perspectives from different schools of thought: feminists, originalists, civil liberties groups, etc. While this is written in more common parlance, remember, this is not the law, commentary should supplement not supplant your analysis. Find references to other sources (cases, statutes, secondary authority) Encyclopedias provide big picture overview; treatises add background information on cases/legislative history. Alr provide clarification where the law is complex. Restatements of the law: written by american law institute (ali) after elite. Jury instruction guides: by panel of experts in jurisdiction. Most authoritative, lawyer deliberations sometimes cited in court rulings.
