Law & Society Blog

All social structures are made of meanings. So it is no surprise that a problem in the philosophy of language would wreck havoc in practical legal cases. Recently, Elizabeth Nowicki (from Concurring Opinions) has advocated a certain interpretation of the legal phrase, “not in good faith”, inspired in part by the recent Disney ruling. Her […]

The case of Arizona v. Berger can be summed up in one sentence, taken from the dissenting opinion:In the case before us, Berger was sentenced to 200 years – more than two and one-half lifetimes, from birth to death – for possessing twenty lewd and obscene photographs. The Arizona Supreme Court upheld the sentence, finding that it did not violate the Eights Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.