The Legal Research Society

In today’s Law in Action, on BBC Radio 4, US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia gives a rare interview touching upon a few fascinating legal issues. Justice Scalia is one of the most controversial characters on the US Supreme Court; hailed by conservatives, and abhorred by liberals, for his approach to legal interpretation based on doctrines of originalism and (strict) textualism. This approach is in sharp contrast to the approaches seen in Europe, by for instance the ECJ, where norms of judicial activism are very much alive. Regardless of what one thinks of Justice Scalia he does have some interesting points on the issue of legislation, not just constitutions, being static instruments that do not evolve over time. Similarly, Scalia discusses the use of “smacking on the face” under the “ticking bomb scenario”, which is likely to cause offense. In addition, he has some good points on the appointment of judges in the US, which, he argues, is ultimately not any longer about the lawyerly...

A law degree can lead to many different careers and job possibilities. These include traditional law areas such as litigation, advising and perhaps even teaching the law. In the US, however, it seems that law graduates have an additional option open to them; that of entering the race to become President of the United States. The New York Times has an interesting article on the legal backgrounds of both sides of the current contenders for the upcoming US presidency. The article describes how the three Democratic candidates - Hillary R. Clinton, Barrack Obama and John Edwards - are all law graduates and that the three Republican candidates - Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and Fred Thomson - hold similar law degrees. In fact, Sen. John McCain is the only serious contender not holding a law degree. All of the six lawyers have, bar Romney, to some extent, used their law degrees either in private practice or as prosecutors. In addition, Obama and Clinton have utilized their degrees in ac...