A Companion to American Legal History

摘要

This is a book on American law as such - not the legal system. Readers should be clear about that from the start. It covers the substantive law, its evolution in American history, its various branches and departments, its impact on the different subject groups and the philosophies which underpin it. The focus is precise. But Hadden and Brophy have nothing to say about the institutional side of the law. They are silent on the office of Attorney-General and the federal judiciary at all levels - the Supreme Court, district courts and the appeals circuits; the state courts, the prosecutorial offices of US attorney and district attorney, the FBI and the police. There are references to legal education and the university law departments but no dedicated chapter on them. The book is also light on the constitution - in fact it hardly mentions it. That huge area of study needs a volume of its own. Nor is it a book about criminology or penology - two wholly different subjects. This is fair enough so long as readers know what they are getting.