Understanding American Common Law

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What was previously the only statutory course taught in first-year law school?

Criminal Procedure

Civil Procedure (correct)

Constitutional Law

Civil Rights

What has appreciably eroded in the field of common law?

The role of judges in lawmaking

The significance of prior decisions

The importance of litigants in shaping the law

The doctrine of stare decisis (correct)

What is the author's stance on the common law?

It should be left as it is, as a valuable method of developing the law (correct)

It should be abolished as a relic of the past

It should be strictly limited to avoid judicial overreach

It should be replaced by a more democratic system of lawmaking

What is the author's primary concern in the given text?

The majority of judges' work involving statutory interpretation (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the characterization of judges, according to Madison, mentioned in the text?

A natural aristocracy (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary focus of the field of Antonin Scalia, according to the text?

Litigation and Lawyers (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the estimated proportion of constitutional issues in the Supreme Court?

Less than a fifth of all issues (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary focus of the author's discussion?

The significance of statutory interpretation in judicial work (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the author's argument regarding the development of private law by judges?

It is a desirable limitation upon popular democracy (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the author's opinion about the Constitution being a charter for judges to develop an evolving common law?

The author thinks it is wrong (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the main reason the author does not want to debate the role of constitutional interpretation?

A very small proportion of judges' work is constitutional interpretation (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary characteristic of the common law in the Anglo-Saxon tradition?

It is a set of laws developed by the judges. (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the author's view on the purpose of a written constitution?

It is to provide a clear framework for governance (D) Signup and view all the answers

According to the passage, what is the role of customary practice in influencing common law decisions?

Well-established commercial or social practices can sometimes inform common law decisions. (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the significance of the doctrine of stare decisis in the context of common law?

It renders prior judicial decisions 'custom', providing a basis for future decisions. (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the significance of Oliver Wendell Holmes's book, The Common Law?

It is a seminal work that continues to influence legal education. (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary subject matter of the Year Books?

English judicial decisions from the 13th to 16th centuries. (D) Signup and view all the answers

What can be inferred about the development of the common law over time?

It has evolved to address more complex and refined questions. (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the main concern about combining the power of judging with the legislative, according to Montesquieu?

The life and liberty of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary control. (D) Signup and view all the answers

How did the prevailing image of the common law view judges' role in the 18th century?

As discoverers of the law. (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary function of Sutherland's Statutes and Statutory Construction?

A litigator's research tool and expert witness (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the term used to describe the idea that judges in fact 'make' the common law?

Legal realism. (C) Signup and view all the answers

Why is there a lack of comprehensive treatises on statutory interpretation?

There is no need for a comprehensive treatise since it can be learned through reading cases (C) Signup and view all the answers

How many volumes does Sutherland's Statutes and Statutory Construction currently comprise?

Eight volumes (B) Signup and view all the answers

What was the main motivation behind the law-codification movement of the 19th century?

To address the uncomfortable relationship between common-law lawmaking and democracy. (A) Signup and view all the answers

Who associated with the law-codification movement of the 19th century?

Robert Rantoul and David Dudley Field. (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the title of the sole comprehensive treatise on statutory interpretation mentioned in the text?

Sutherland's Statutes and Statutory Construction (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the criticism of judge-made law, according to Robert Rantoul?

It is unjust because it is ex post facto law. (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary focus of the majority of treatises in the field of law?

Substantive fields of law (B) Signup and view all the answers

When was the first edition of Sutherland's Statutes and Statutory Construction published?

1891 (D) Signup and view all the answers