The faculty of the George Mason University School of Law is among the most prolific and influential group of legal scholars in the United States. According to the latest ranking of Faculty Quality Based on Scholarly Impact, 2005, our faculty ranks 23rd among all American law schools for scholarly impact which reflects the frequency with which other scholars cite the faculty's publications and books. The School of Law has attracted a distinctive, interdisciplinary faculty, many of whom hold doctorates in economics, philosophy, political science, or related fields. Below are some of the most recent books published by members of the faculty. These publications reflect the lively, innovative, and intellectual orientation of a faculty that has propelled George Mason School of Law into the top tier of U.S. law schools.
Terrorism, the Laws of War, and the Constitution: Debating the Enemy Combatant Cases
Edited
by Peter Berkowitz
Hoover Institution Press, 2005
Paperback: 180 pages
ISBN: 0-8179-4622-5
For more information, see Hoover
Institution Press
Terrorism, the Laws of War, and the Constitution examines three enemy combatant cases that represent the leading edge of U.S. efforts to devise legal rules, consistent with American constitutional principles, for waging the global war on terror. The distinguished contributors analyze the crucial questions these cases raise about the balance between national security and civil liberties in wartime and call for a reexamination of the complex connections between the Constitution and international law.
Varieties
of Conservatism in America
Edited by Peter Berkowitz
Hoover Institution Press, 2004
Paperback: 167 pages
ISBN:
0-8179-4572-5
For more information, see Hoover Institution Press
The essays in this volume demonstrate that the debate among conservatives about which principles and practices are most urgently in need of protection is also a debate with and within that larger liberalism that undergirds the American constitutional order. The essays suggest as well that this larger liberalism, with its bedrock devotion to individual liberty and equality before the law, serves as the common ground on which the contending camps within conservatism—and indeed conservatives in their contentions with progressives—can come together, debate civilly, and discover ways to advance the public good.
Varieties of Progressivism in America
Edited by Peter Berkowitz
Hoover Institution Press, 2004
Paperback
ISBN:
0817945822
For more information, see Hoover Institution Press
Whereas conservatives in America often disagree over which moral and political goods are most urgently in need of conservation, contemporary progressives are principally divided over the means-the kinds of government action-for achieving the progressive ends around which they unite. Varieties of Progressivism in America focuses on the debates within the party of progress about how best to increase opportunity in America and to make social and political life more egalitarian.The contributors to this volume, offering different expertise and different perspectives, combine varying voices, terminology, and views of American politics to provide a better sense of the different meanings of progressivism in our nation today. They examine the Old Democrats of the New Deal, the contributions of the Clinton-era New Democrats, and the future of progressivism in America.
Never
a Matter of Indifference: Sustaining Virtue in a Free Republic
Edited by Peter Berkowitz
Hoover Institution Press, 2003
Paperback: 161 pages
ISBN: 0817939628
For more information, see Hoover
Institution Press.
In this first book generated by the Hoover Institution's Initiative on American Individualism and Values, the contributors reveal how, over the last several decades, public policy in the United States has weakened the institutions of civil society—which play a critical role in forming and sustaining the qualities of mind and character crucial to democratic self-government. The authors examine
How we deal with the tension between liberty (doing what you want) and virtue (doing what you ought)
Although no individual author agrees with every observation and every assertion in every essay, they are united in believing that the defense of liberty in our day requires rethinking the complex relation between a citizen's character, civil society, and government.
You
Can't Say That!: The Growing Threat to Civil Liberties from
Antidiscrimination Laws
By David E. Bernstein
Cato Institute, 2003
Hardcover: 197 pages
ISBN: 1930865538
For more information, see David
Bernstein's website.
Should you be able to tell a racy joke at work? Should an overweight girl demand to be a ballerina? Should college students have the right to free speech on campus? In this new book from the Cato Institute, David E. Bernstein argues that a host of antidiscrimination laws are beginning to threaten our basic civil liberties. In a misguided attempt to rid our society of every vestige of "discrimination," activists and judges are using antidiscrimination laws to erode civil liberties such as free speech, the exercise of religion, and freedom of association. Civil rights laws are being applied in ways that threaten speech on campus and in the workplace, the right of local community leaders to speak out against government policies, the rights of private associations such as the Boy Scouts to determine their membership policies, and even the rights of individuals to choose their roommates.
In example after example, from freedom of speech to artistic
expression to religion, You Can't Say That! reveals
the profound threat to civil liberties posed by antidiscrimination
laws.
The
New Wigmore: A Treatise on Evidence: Expert Evidence
By D. H. Kaye, David E. Bernstein, Jennifer
L. Mnookin, Richard D. Friedman, Edward J. Imwinkelried,
David P. Leonard
Aspen, 2003
ISBN: 0735545553
For more information, see Aspen
Publishers.
Reach for the modern-day evidence masterpiece for authoritative answers to changing evidentiary issues in civil and criminal litigation. The latest volume, Expert Evidence, describes and analyzes all major facets of the law of evidence pertaining to expert evidence including:
Just
Exchange: A Theory of Contract
By Francis H. Buckley
Routledge Press, 2005
Hardcover, 224 pages
ISBN: 0415700272
For more information, see the Routledge Press
F. H. Buckley's new book fills a prominent hole in the literature, explaining economic terms and jargon with welcome clarity and examining the moral basis of free contracting, as well as those cases where bargaining rights might reasonably be restricted. Along the way the book examines several philosophical puzzles, such as allegiance requirements, paternalism and fairness constraints. Buckley approaches fundamental issues of contract law from an economic perspective, though the book is far from being overly technical and will appeal equally to economists, philosophers and law students. This is a welcome addition to the literature on law and economics.
The
Morality of Laughter
By Francis H. Buckley
University of Michigan Press, 2003
Hardcover: 242 pages
ISBN: 0472098187
For more information, see the University
of Michigan Press.
“A serious contribution to social and moral philosophy masquerading as an entertaining anatomy of an under-appreciated human resource …at once a wise and highly amusing book…I laughed aloud, reading The Morality of Laughter.” —Roger Kimball, The Wall Street Journal
“There are so many good things in this book. … [The] treatment of the theme is a triumph.” — New Criterion
The Morality of Laughter is “written elegantly and often wittily -- unlike most academic books. Much of the book's freshness is that it isn't preoccupied with the literary genre called comedy.” — National Post
"The last few decades have seen a welcome revival of scholarly interest in how we should live. But in an age of relativism that asks us not to be judgmental, the idea that laughter signals inferiority will seem very old-fashioned. And so it is." With that unapologetic salvo, Buckley, in this entirely entertaining book on the serious subject of laughter, takes the side of the guardians of good taste in the battle against the soulless forces of modernism.
For those who favor grace over grotesquerie, a so-called "new classicism" has emerged in recent years as an antidote to what many thinkers, conservative and otherwise, view as a perilously cynical decline in standards. But whether the arts need just a shot of beauty or the aesthetic equivalent of a heart transplant is still uncertain. What is clear, however, is that they’ve become a target.
Buckley’s smart bomb? Laughter, which turns out to be not only the best medicine for living the good life, but the necessary preemptive strike in what the author sees as the fight to regain our sense of humor and beauty—even moral rectitude. "The loss of a sense of humor," believes Buckley, "has impoverished academic discourse, where nonsensical theories that could not survive the test of ridicule are now taken seriously. Before adopting a fashionable idea, we ought first to enquire whether it twigs our sense of humor."
Annual Survey of Letter of Credit Law
& Practice
Edited by James E. Byrne
Institute of International Banking Law & Practice,
2004 (Annual)
Hardcover
For more information, see Institute
of International Banking Law & Practice
No other books bring all these materials together under one cover. Over the years, this series has tracked the developments in Law and Practice with a completeness that is unparalleled in the industry. From the interpretation of UCP and ISP, to revised UCC Article 5 and the UN Convention, everything is here.
The 500+ page annual yearbook contains all the important articles, developments in practice, regulatory actions and case law (in easy to understand abstract form) handsomely bound and indexed for easy reference.
ICC
Guide to the eUCP: Understanding the Electronic Supplement
to the UCP 500
By James E. Byrne and Dan Taylor
Institute of International Banking Law & Practice
Softcover: 234 pages
ISBN: 9284213088
A thorough, detailed commentary that shows how the electronic
documentary credit rules work in practice. The eUCP, which
came into force in April 2002, is an important addendum
to the UCP 500, ICC's universally used rules on letters
of credit. The new rules permit the presentation of some
or all documents electronically and are expected to revolutionize
the way documentary credits are used. Written by two leading
authorities on the subject, the ICC Guide provides
an invaluable explanation of these rules analyzing each
Article, its background and principles with precision and
clarity.
Virginia
Criminal Law and Procedure, 3d edition
By John L. Costello
Michie, 2002
Hardcover: 1281 pages, with 2003 Supplement
ISBN: 0327162600
For more information, see LexisNexis.
Virginia Criminal Law and Procedure, Third Edition is the definitive authority on criminal law in the Commonwealth of Virginia, offering comprehensive coverage of dozens of substantive crimes, plus the procedural, constitutional, and ethical issues involved in criminal practice. Author John L. Costello discusses problems encountered in pretrial, trial, and appellate practice - offering valuable guidance at each stage. From arrest to appeal, Virginia Criminal Law and Procedure is the practice manual criminal lawyers in Virginia can't afford to be without.
The Green Bag Almanac & Reader 2007
Edited by Ross E. Davies
Green Bag Press, 2006
ISBN: 9781933658032
For more information, see The Green Bag
This is the second Green Bag Almanac of Useful and Entertaining Tidbits for Lawyers and Reader of Good Legal Writing from the Past Year Selected by the Luminaries and Sages on Our Board of Advisers containing "a new collection of exemplary legal writing published during the past year or so, showing again that good reasoning, rhetoric, and reporting are alive and well in the law".
The Green Bag Almanac & Reader 2006
Edited by Ross E. Davies
Green Bag Press, 2006
ISBN: 9781933658025
For more information, see The Green Bag
The Green Bag Almanac & Reader provides a collection of outstanding legal writing from 2005. The honorees were selected by the journal’s special Board of Advisers on good legal writing, which includes distinguished members from the state and federal judiciaries, private law firms, the news media, and academia. In addition, this book contains an almanac of useful and entertaining tidbits for lawyers.
In
Chambers Opinions by the Justices of the Supreme Court
of the United States
Volume IV, Part 1
and Volume IV, Part 2
Edited by Ross E. Davies and Cynthia Rapp
Green Bag Press
2005
ISBN: 9781933658018
For more information, see The
Green Bag
In chambers opinions offer a unique opportunity to study the reasoning of an individual Justice sans input from the rest of the Court. These opinions also offer the only insight into the criteria used by the Justices to decide when to grant an application, as such guidelines are not contained in the Court's rules. In chambers opinions were not reported in a routine manner until the 1969 Term, when they began appearing in the United States Reports. Prior to this time most could be found in unofficial Supreme Court reporters. Some opinions have no official citation.
Regulatory
Takings, 3d edition
By Steven J. Eagle
LexisNexis, 2005
Hardcover: 1218 pages
ISBN: 0820574937
For more information, see LexisNexis
Regulatory Takings provides a detailed examination of the substantive and procedural aspects of reulatory takings law as well as the judicial applications of these principles in specific areas, such as exactions on new development and governmental growth restrictions. In the process, Regulatory Takings liberally cites pertinent cases, statutes, and secondary sources. It examines technical considerations unique to regluatory takings, such as special standing requirements, while highlighting widely varying state and local statutes, ordinances, and adminstrative practices.
Legal
Ethics in a Nutshell
By Ronald D. Rotunda & Michael I. Krauss
Publisher: West ; (May 1, 2003)
Paperback: 451 pages
ISBN: 0314143556
For more information, see Thomson
West™.
This Nutshell digests the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility in a critical fashion. It is an ideal complement to a casebook that explores deeper theoretical issues. In 2002, for only the third time, the American Bar Association adopted a major revised version of its ethics rules. This book incorporates all the changes made to the old Model Rules, in an historic context that lets the student understand problems with prior versions of the Rules and the Model Code. The authors also discuss and analyze the role of the American Law Institute's new Restatement of the Law Governing Lawyers, 3d.
Constitutional
Law, 7th edition (Hornbook Series)
By John E. Nowak and Ronald D. Rotunda
Hardcover: 1652 pages
West, 2004
ISBN: 0314144528
For more information, see Thomson
West™
Authoritative coverage analyzes the constitutional issues that are studied and litigated today. This text presents the origins of judicial review and federal jurisdiction, and the sources of national authority. Discusses federal commerce and fiscal powers. Overviews individual liberties and due process. Also covers freedom of speech and religion. Throughout the book, there are summations of the Supreme Court’s work and evaluations of the judicial process.
Legal Ethics in a Nutshell
By Ronald D. Rotunda and Michael I. Krauss
See entry under Michael Krauss above.
Modern
Constitutional Law: Cases and Notes, 7th edition (American
Casebook Series)
By Ronald D. Rotunda
Hardcover: 1533 pages
West, 2003
ISBN: 0314145869
For more information, see Thomson
West™
Since the first edition of Modern Constitutional Law was published nearly 20 years ago, it has continued to be one of the best sellers in a very competitive market. Professor Thomas E. Baker, who holds the prestigious James Madison Chair in Constitutional Law at Drake University, stated that he has "been so loyal to the Rotunda brand name over the years," because the book is compact without being superficial. It "remarkabl[y]" manages "to include all the important cases yet preserves a fuller set of opinions to guarantee 'thoughtful classroom discussion.'"
Nowak
and Rotunda's Treatise on Constitutional Law: Substance
and Procedure, 3d edition
By Ronald D. Rotunda and John E. Nowak
West, 1999; Last Update: 2003
Hardbound, 5 vols.
For more information, see Thomson
West™.
This treatise provides scholars, practitioners, judges,
and officials with an up-to-date analysis and synthesis
of federal constitutional law. Focus is primarily on the
Supreme Court and incorporates the political, historical,
and economic background of court decisions. The first edition
was acclaimed by scholars, judges, and practitioners. This
new edition follows in its footsteps, providing a thorough,
cogent analysis of every area of constitutional law. Analyzes
constitutional questions in terms of precedent, political
science theory, economics, and American history, thus making
the leading cases understandable concerning both their overall
significance and the precise legal rules that they establish.
Professional Responsibility:
Problems and Materials, 8th edition
By Thomas D. Morgan, Ronald D. Rotunda
Foundation Press, 2003
Hardcover
ISBN: 1587785242
For more information, see Thomson
West™.
This casebook provides detailed information on professional responsibility. The casebook provides the tools for fast, easy, on-point research. Part of the University Casebook Series, it includes selected cases designed to illustrate the development of a body of law on a particular subject. Text and explanatory materials designed for law study accompany the cases.
The
Law and Economics of Irrational Behavior
Edited by Francesco Parisi and Vernon
L. Smith
Stanford University Press, 2005
Paperback: 632 pages
ISBN: 0804751447
For more information, see Stanford
University Press
This collection of essays explores the most relevant developments at the interface of economics and psychology, giving special attention to models of irrational behavior, and draws the relevant implications of such models for the design of legal rules and institutions. The book contains contributions by twenty-seven scholars active in the area of law and economics, including essays by George Mason faculty: F.H. Buckley, Terrence Chorvat, Kevin McCabe, Michael E. O'Neill and Vernon Smith.
Bargaining
and Market Behavior: Essays in Experimental Economics
By Vernon L. Smith
Cambridge University Press, 2000
Hardcover: 474 pages
ISBN: 0521584507
For more information, see Cambridge
University Press.
This second collection of papers by Vernon L. Smith, a creator of the field of experimental economics and a recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics, includes many of his primary authored and coauthored contributions on bargaining and market behavior between 1990 and 1998. The essays explore the use of laboratory experiments to test propositions derived from economics and game theory. They also investigate the relationship between experimental economics and psychology, particularly the field of evolutionary psychology, using the latter to broaden the perspective in which experimental results are interpreted. Specific themes investigated include rational choice, the notion of fairness, game theory and extensive form experimental interactions, institutions and market behavior, and the study of laboratory stock markets.
Public Goods, Redistribution And Rent Seeking
By Gordon Tullock
Edward Elgar, 2005
Hardcover: 160 pages
ISBN: 184376637X
Gordon Tullock, eminent political economist and one of the founders of public choice, offers this new and fascinating look at how governments and externalities are linked.
Economists frequently justify government as dealing with externalities, defined as benefits or costs that are generated as the result of an economic activity, but that do not accrue directly to those involved in the activity. In this original work, Gordon Tullock posits that government can also create externalities. In doing so, he looks at governmental activity that internalizes such externalities.
Government
Failure: A Primer in Public Choice
By Gordon Tullock, Arthur Seldon, Gordon L. Brady
Cato Institute, 2002
Paperback: 185 pages
ISBN: 1930865201
For more information, see Cato
Institute Publications.
When market forces fail us, what are we to do? Who will step in to protect the public interest? The government, right? Wrong. The romantic view of bureaucrats coming to the rescue confuses the true relationship between economics and politics. Politicians often cite "market failure" as justification for meddling with the economy, but three leading scholars show the shortcomings of this view. In Government Failure, these scholars explain the school of study known as "public choice," which uses economic analysis to understand and evaluate government programs.
