What Is General Law?
This article challenges the view that the general law, which posits that judges should find law by looking to the shared customs and practices of different sovereigns, should be applied to constitutional interpretation.
It argues that whatever purpose the general law may have served in the nineteenth century, it has now been emptied of meaning in the context of constitutional interpretation. It further argues that, insofar as the general law could be revived in twenty-first century constitutional interpretation, it lacks the normative virtues its adherents claim.
Rather than curtailing judicial discretion and promoting experimentation, a modern general law for the Constitution results in untethered judicial moral decision-making
About the Public Law Workshop
Michigan’s Public Law Workshop provides an opportunity for faculty and students from across the University to enjoy weekly presentations by leading scholars producing current work on topics ranging from constitutional law and administrative law to international law, statutory interpretation and beyond. Professors Julian Mortenson and Daniel Deacon organize the workshop. If you would like to receive workshop announcements, please contact Alex Wroble ([email protected]) and ask to have your name added to the workshop’s email list.
