Practice extended : beyond law and literature

350 Pages·2016·2.906 MB·English

by  Ferguson, Robert A.

P R A C T I C E
E
X
T E N D E D
Beyond Law
and Literature
R O B E R T A . F E R G U S O N
PRACTICE EXTENDED

Practice
Extended
BEYOND LAW AND LITERATURE
Robert A. Ferguson
columbia university press(cid:18)new york
columbia university press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
cup.columbia.edu
Copyright © 2016 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Permissions material for excerpted sources can be found on pages ix–x.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ferguson, Robert A., 1942–
Title: Practice extended : beyond law and literature / Robert A. Ferguson.
Description: New York : Columbia University Press, 2016. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015025715 | ISBN 9780231175364 (cloth : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9780231540599 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Law and literature. | Law in literature. | Judicial opinion.
| Lawyers as authors. | Law and culture. | Law and ethics. | Legal stories—History and criticism.
Classification: LCC PN56.L33 F47 2016 | DDC 809/.933554—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015025715
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper.
This book is printed on paper with recycled content.
Printed in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cover design: Archie Ferguson
References to websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing.
Neither the author nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs
that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
for my colleagues at columbia law school
we all march to a different drum but somehow make good music
together.

contents
acknowledgments(cid:18)IX
introduction
(cid:2)
The Letters in Law(cid:18)1
part one
Literary Components in the Legal Imagination(cid:18)11
one
(cid:2)
The U.S. Constitution as Literature(cid:18)17
two
(cid:2)
The Place of Mercy in Legal Discourse(cid:18)35
three
(cid:2)
Immigration Law: An Answer to Intractability(cid:18)65
part two
The Nature of Judgment(cid:18)85
four
(cid:2)
Holmes and the Judicial Figure(cid:18)93
five
(cid:2)
The Opinion as Literary Genre(cid:18)115
six
(cid:2)
Ulysses in Government Hands(cid:18)130
viii contents
part three
The Public Uses of Eloquence(cid:18)151
seven
(cid:2)
Lawyer Lincoln: The Making of Eloquence(cid:18)159
eight
(cid:2)
Memorialization and the Spirit of Law(cid:18)188
nine
(cid:2)
Precision in Persuasion(cid:18)196
part four
When Law Fails(cid:18)211
ten
(cid:2)
The Somers Mutiny and the American Ship of State(cid:18)217
eleven
(cid:2)
Invading Panama: Circumstance and the Rule of Law(cid:18)241
coda
(cid:2)
How to Read a Courtroom Novel(cid:18)265
notes(cid:18)279
cases cited(cid:18)331
index(cid:18)333
acknowledgments
two anonymous evaluators, in favor of publication, left quiet com-
ments that nonetheless led me to redo this book completely and make it
much better than it was. Philip Leventhal, Whitney Johnson, and Kathryn
Jorge made invaluable suggestions and additions at each stage of the process
and shepherded the book through Columbia University Press with profes-
sional élan.
A generation of scholars, beyond the dedication to this book, have
helped with these essays, but the commitment, wisdom, tact, perspicac-
ity, and energy of my research assistants deserve special mention and all
of my gratitude. They are Amy Connors, Ethan Frechette, Megan Heller,
Dina Hoffer, Alexander Lemann, Ian MacDougall, David Pucino,
Caitlin Smith, and Brian Snyder. Gabriel Soto, my assistant, faithfully
arranged aspects of these materials.
Many have read, but two stand out as Emerson’s “good reader that makes
the good book”: John Paul Russo and Kenji Yoshino. A third encompasses
all. Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson reads everything including myself.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following publishers and journals
for permission to use previously published material in revised versions of
the current chapters of this book:
Chapter 1, “The U.S. Constitution as Literature,” is a revised version of
Robert A. Ferguson, “ ‘We Do Ordain and Establish’: The Constitution as
Literary Text,” William & Mary Law Review 29, no. 1 (Fall 1987): 3–25.
Used with permission by the William & Mary Law Review.