The U.S. Supreme Court and the Modern Common Law Approach

Cambridge University Press, February 2015

Loyola-LA Legal Studies Paper No. 2015-01

Posted: 11 Feb 2015

See all articles by Simona Grossi

Simona Grossi

Loyola Law School Los Angeles; University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law

Date Written: February 9, 2015

Abstract

This book studies the U.S. Supreme Court and its current common law approach to judicial decision making from a national and transnational perspective. The Supreme Court's modern approach appears detached from and inconsistent with the underlying fundamental principles that ought to guide it, an approach that often leads to unfair and inefficient results.

This book suggests the adoption of a judicial decision-making model that proceeds from principles and rules and treats these principles and rules as premises for developing consistent unitary theories to meet current social conditions. This model requires that judicial opinions be informed by a wide range of considerations, beginning with established legal standards – but also including the insights derived from deductive and inductive reasoning, the lessons learned from history and custom – and ending with an examination of the social and economic consequences of the decision. Under this model, the considerations taken to reach a specific result should be articulated through a process that considers various hypotheses, arguments, confutations, and confirmations, and they should be shared with the public.

The book contains case studies and numerous theoretical considerations from more than thirty judges, lawyers and professors from all over the world. And it endorses a model of legal analysis that is valuable and applicable to a wide range of legal fields.

Suggested Citation

Grossi, Simona, The U.S. Supreme Court and the Modern Common Law Approach (February 9, 2015). Cambridge University Press, February 2015, Loyola-LA Legal Studies Paper No. 2015-01, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2562513

Simona Grossi (Contact Author)

Loyola Law School Los Angeles ( email )

919 Albany Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015-1211
United States
213-736-8140 (Phone)
213-380-3769 (Fax)

University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law

Boalt Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
United States

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