The University of Chicago Press and the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association have launched the Journal of Law and Courts, an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal devoted to the examination of legal institutions, actors, processes and policy.

The journal will publish biannually online and in print. The March issue available free. Future issues will be offered at an annual subscription cost of $32.

The journal is edited by David E. Klein,  an associate professor of politics at the University of Virginia an author of the 2002 book, Making Law in the United States Courts of Appeals.

The inaugural issue includes an introduction by Klein as well as the following articles:

  • “Law without the State: Legal Attributes and the Coordination of Decentralized Collective Punishment,” by Gillian K. Hadfield and Barry R. Weingast.
  • “How the Supreme Court Alters Opinion Language to Evade Congressional Review,” by Ryan J. Owens, Justin Wedeking and Patrick C. Wohlfarth.
  • “Trustee Courts and the Judicialization of  International Regimes: The Politics of Majoritarian Activism in the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Union, and the World Trade Organization,” by Alec Stone Sweet and Thomas L. Brunell.
  • “Linking Issues to Ideology in the Supreme Court: The Takings Clause,” by Lawrence Baum.
  • “Policy Preferences and Legal Interpretation”   Ward Farnsworth, Dustin Guzior, and Anup Malani.
  • “Conceptualizing and Measuring Rule of Law Constructs, 1850-2010,” by Peter F. Nardulli, Buddy Peyton and Joseph Bajjalieh.

Read the first issue of the Journal of Law and Courts here.

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Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.