espouse
espouse, vb. To dedicate oneself to and advocate for (a cause).
Search Results for: ESPOUSE
legal realism
legal realism, n. The theory that law is based, not on formal rules or principles, but instead on judicial decisions that should derive from social interests and public policy. • American legal realism — which flourished in the early 20th century — was espoused by such scholars as John Chipman Gray, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and
maximalist retributivism
The classical form of retributivism, espoused by scholars such as Immanuel Kant, under which it is argued that society has a duty, not just a right, to punish a criminal who is guilty and culpable, that is, someone who has no justification or excuse for the illegal act.
maximalist retributivism Read More »
legal formalism
legal formalism, n. The theory that law is a set of rules and principles independent of other political and social institutions. • Legal formalism was espoused by such scholars as Christopher Columbus Langdell and Lon Fuller. Cf. LEGAL REALISM. — legal formalist, n.
bad man theory
bad-man theory. The jurisprudential doctrine or belief that a bad person’s view of the law represents the best test of what the law actually is because that person will carefully calculate precisely what the rules allow and operate up to the rules’ limits. • This theory was first espoused by Oliver Wendell Holmes in his
political trial
A trial (esp. a criminal prosecution) in which either the prosecution or the defendant (or both) uses the proceedings as a platform to espouse a particular political belief; a trial of a person for a political crime. See SHOW TRIAL.
legal positivism
legal positivism, n. The theory that legal rules are valid only because they are enacted by an existing political authority or accepted as binding in a given society, not because they are grounded in morality or in natural law. • Legal positivism has been espoused by such scholars as H.L.A. Hart. See POSITIVE LAW. Cf.
retributivism
retributivism (ri-trib-y[schwa]-t[schwa]-viz-[schwa]m). The legal theory by which criminal punishment is justified, as long as the offender is morally accountable, regardless of whether deterrence or other good consequences would result. • According to retributivism, a criminal is thought to have a debt to pay to society, which is paid by punishment. The punishment is also sometimes
nullification doctrine
nullification doctrine. The theory — espoused by southern states before the Civil War — advocating a state’s right to declare a federal law unconstitutional and therefore void.
nullification doctrine Read More »