From the founders of JD Jungle magazine, a hip must-read for present and future law-school students, or anyone who wants to learn the "laws of the jungle." There's an old saying about law school: The first year, they scare you to death; the second year, they work you to death; the third year, they bore you to death. Helping to alleviate this famed fright, sweat, and boredom, The JD Jungle Law School Survival Guide expertly shows current and prospective students how to navigate all three years of law-school torture. Comprehensive, practical, and witty, it includes advice from students in the trenches, successful graduates, sage professors, and working professionals, including: How to identify and get accepted at the law school of your choice Places to look for and get financial aid Effective note-taking, study, and exam-day strategies Tips for managing law-school stress How to pass the bar exam the first time How to land a law internship-and then the job of your dream

Beginning with the story of the forming of the Constitution,this book includes illuminating character sketches of thedelegates, written by their contemporaries. The complete text ofthe Constitution is highlighted, as well as Supreme Courtdecisions, cited because they shed light on Constitutionalproblems.

Located at the intersection of law, political science,philosophy, and literary theory, this is a work of constitutionaltheory that explores the nature of American constitutionalinterpretation through a reconsideration of the long-standingdebate between the interpretive theories of originalism andnonoriginalism. It traces that debate to a particular set ofpremises about the nature of language, interpretation, andobjectivity, premises that raise the specter of unconstrained,unstructured constitutional interpretation that has hauntedcontemporary constitutional theory. It presents the novel argumentthat a critique of the underlying premises of originalism dissolvesnot just originalism but nonoriginalism as well, which leads to therecognition that constitutional interpretation is already andalways structured. It makes this argument in terms of the firstprinciple of the American political system: by their fidelity tothe Constitution, Americans are a textual people in that they livein and through the terms of a fun

There is an undercover war going on in America that impactseveryone's life far more than the legal issues that typically grabthe headlines. The conservative movement has been systematicallyturning back a century's worth of the evolving gains andprotections found in the common law-the areas of law that affectthe everyday activities of ordinary people. Throughout the twentieth century, contract, property, andpersonal injury law evolved to take more account of socialconditions and the needs of consumers, workers, and less powerfulmembers of American society. Contracts were interpreted in light ofcommon sense, property ownership was subjected to reasonable-useprovisions to protect the environment, and consumers were protectedagainst dangerous products. But all that is changing. Conservatives have a clear agenda toturn back the clock on the common law to maximize the profits ofbig business. Some significant inroads have already been made toprotect gun manufacturers from lawsuits, enforce form co

In this amazing story of high stakes competition between twotitans, Richard Moran shows how the electric chair developed notout of the desire to be more humane but through an effort by onenineteenth-century electric company to discredit the other. In 1882, Thomas Edison ushered in the “age of electricity” whenhe illuminated Manhattan’s Pearl Street with his direct current(DC) system. Six years later, George Westinghouse lit up Buffalowith his less expensive alternating current (AC). The two menquickly became locked in a fierce rivalry, made all the morecomplicated by a novel new application for their product: theelectric chair. When Edison set out to persuade the state of NewYork to use Westinghouse’s current to execute condemned criminals,Westinghouse fought back in court, attempting to stop the firstelectrocution and keep AC from becoming the “executioner’scurrent.” In this meticulously researched account of the ensuinglegal battle and the horribly botched first execution, Moran r

“Law school applicants should consider this a guide toproducing a competitive, superior essay. . . . These successfulexamples speak louder than any written how-to instructions could.”–The Book Watch Each year, thousands of people apply to the most prestigious lawschools across the country, competing for an ever-smaller number ofspaces. But each applicant gets one chance to distinguish himselfor herself from the pack: the law school application essay. In theessay, you can spotlight the qualities you possess that tran*sand LSAT scores cannot reveal.

In the second edition of this highly regarded text, the authorsshow how and why traditional legal language has developed thepeculiar characteristics that make legal documents inaccessible tothe end users. Incorporating recent research and case law, the bookprovides a critical examination of case law and the rules ofinterpretation. Detailed case studies illustrate how obtuse oroutdated words, phrases and concepts can be rewritten, reworked orremoved altogether. Particularly useful is the step-by-step guideto drafting in the modern style, using examples from four types ofcommon legal documents: leases, company constitutions, wills andconveyances. Readers will gain an appreciation of the historicalinfluences on drafting practice and the use of legal terminology.They will learn about the current moves to reform legal language,and receive clear instruction on how to make their writing clearerand their legal documents more useful.

A brilliant new approach to the Constitution and courts of the United States by Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.For Justice Breyer, the Constitution s primary role is to preserve and encouragewhat he calls active liberty : citizen participation in shaping government and its laws. As this book argues, promoting active liberty requires judicial modesty and deference to Congress; it also means recognizing the changing needs and demands of the populace. Indeed, the Constitution s lasting brilliance is that its principles may be adapted to cope with unanticipated situations, and Breyer makes a powerful case against treating it as a static guide intended for a world that is dead and gone. Using contemporary examples from federalism to privacy to affirmative action, this is a vital contribution to the ongoing debate over the role and power of our courts.

Can the police strip-search a woman who has been arrested fora minor traffic violation? Can a magazine publish an embarrassingphoto of you without your permission? Does your boss have the rightto read your email? Can a company monitor its employees'off-the-job lifestyles--and fire those who drink, smoke, or livewith a partner of the same sex? Although the word privacy does notappear in the Constitution, most of us believe that we have aninalienable right to be left alone. Yet in arenas that range fromthe battlefield of abortion to the information highway, privacy isunder siege. In this eye-opening and sometimes hair-raising book,Alderman and Kennedy survey hundreds of recent cases in whichordinary citizens have come up against the intrusions ofgovernment, businesses, the news media, and their own neighbors. Atonce shocking and instructive, up-to-date and rich in historicalperspective, The Right to Private is an invaluable guide toone of the most charged issues of our time.

In 1787. . . We were given the right to practice the religion of ourchoice. We were given the right to say what we wanted withoutpersecution. It was written that our house and property were secure fromunreasonable search and seizure. We were given the right to apublic trial. Fifty-five men we will never know sat in a sweltering room andfought for us. We were given our rights as citizens of the United States. Every second fall, as we return again to the ballot box to decidethe course of our country’s leadership, every voter must find theirway back to that room in Philadelphia. Welcome Books is proud toprovide a map. The Constitution of the United States of America, inscribed andillustrated by the master calligrapher, Sam Fink, brings to lifethe issues underlying the triumphs of this abiding document.Originally published in pen and ink for Random House in 1987, Mr.Fink has gone back to his original black-and-white art and paintedit anew, created a full-color ma

On June 28, 1972 in a South Bronx subway station, John Skagen,a white off-duty policeman on his way home, suddenly and withoutapparent provocation, ordered James Richardson, a black man on hisway to work, to get against the wall and put his hands up.Richardson had a gun, and the two exchanged shots. In the meleethat followed, Skagen was fatally wounded by a cop who rushed tothe scene. In the ensuing trial, William Kunstler handledRichardson's defense and the author of this book, then assistantdistrict attorney, prosecuted the case. Here is a first-hand,behind-the-scenes account of every step of the proceedings.

The Supreme Court is one of the most extraordinaryinstitutions in our system of government. Charged with theresponsibility of interpreting the Constitution, the nine unelectedjustices of the Court have the awesome power to strike down lawsenacted by our elected representatives. Why does the public acceptthe Court’s decisions as legitimate and follow them, even whenthose decisions are highly unpopular? What must the Court do tomaintain the public’s faith? How can the Court help make ourdemocracy work? These are the questions that Justice Stephen Breyertackles in this groundbreaking book. Today we assume that when the Court rules, the public will obey.But Breyer declares that we cannot take the public’s confidence inthe Court for granted. He reminds us that at various moments in ourhistory, the Court’s decisions were disobeyed or ignored. Andthrough investigations of past cases, concerning the CherokeeIndians, slavery, and Brown v. Board of Education, he brilliantlycaptures the steps

A perfect introduction to a vital subject very fewAmericans understand-the constitutional status of AmericanIndians Few American s know that Indian tribes havea legal status unique among America's distinct racial and ethnicgroups: they are sovereign governments who engage in relations withCongress. This peculiar arrangement has led to frequent legal andpolitical disputes-indeed, the history of American Indians andAmerican law has been one of clashing values and sometimes uneasycompromise. In this clear-sighted account, American Indian scholarN. Bruce Duthu explains the landmark cases in Indian law of thepast two centuries. Exploring subjects as diverse as jurisdictionalauthority, control of environmental resources, and the regulationsthat allow the operation of gambling casinos, American Indiansand the Law gives us an accessible entry point into a vitalfacet of Indian history.

With profound insight into the complexities of the humanexperience, Harvard psychologist Gordon Allport organized a mass ofresearch to produce a landmark study on the roots and nature ofprejudice. First published in 1954, The Nature of Prejudice remainsthe standard work on discrimination. Now this classic study isoffered in a special unabridged edition with a new introduction byKenneth Clark of Columbia University and a new preface by ThomasPettigrew of Harvard University.Allport’s comprehensive andpenetrating work examines all aspects of this age-old problem: itsroots in individual and social psychology, its varieties ofexpression, its impact on the individuals and communities. Heexplores all kinds of prejudice-racial, religious, ethnic, economicand sexual-and offers suggestions for reducing the devastatingeffects of discrimination.The additional material by Clark andPettigrew updates the social-psychological research in prejudiceand attests to the enduring values of Allport’s original theoriesand