Epistemic discretion in constitutional law

Constitutional Law

Constitutional Law: Parole Status

In Rose v. Haskins,' the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reiterated the orthodox view that since a prisoner parole system is not constitutionally compelled, parole status is merely a "privilege" regulated by statute and not circumscribed by either the specific constitutional guarantees applicable to a criminal proceeding nor the traditional safeguards of procedural due process. However, ...

Constitutional Law: Increased Sentence

Ordinary Administrative Law as Constitutional Common Law

Henry Monaghan famously argued that much of constitutional interpretation takes the form of what he termed constitutional common law, a body of doctrines and rules that are constitutionally inspired but not constitutionally required and that can be altered or reversed by Congress. This Essay argues that a fair amount of ordinary administrative law qualifies as constitutional common law: Constit...

1 Discretion , Rule of Law , and Rationality

When John Adams crafted wording that the state shall establish "a government of laws and not of men" into the constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1780, he did not specify precisely where, in the real world, the boundaries of law should end and where officials should begin to exercise discretion in interpreting and enforcing the laws. The founding fathers gave us organizing prin...