Background
Porto, Brian L. was born on January 25, 1952 in Yonkers, New York, United States. Son of Louis J. and Ann J. Porto.
( Despite their clarity and sophistication, most judicial...)
Despite their clarity and sophistication, most judicial process texts currently available have two significant limitations. First, they understate the effects of legal factors such as stare decisis on judicial decision-making and second, they fail to convey the human emotions involved in litigation. Reflecting the author’s experience as a political scientist, law student, judicial clerk, practicing attorney, and law professor, May It Please the Court: Judicial Processes and Politics in America, Second Edition redresses this imbalance by giving well-deserved attention to legal influences on judicial decisions and to the human drama of litigation. Each chapter reflects the book’s premise that the judicial process operates at the intersection of law and politics, and this theme guides the discussions. The coverage in the book is far-reaching, exploring numerous topics, including the structure of federal and state courts, the selection and removal of judges, and the legal profession’s history and culture. It discusses two hypothetical cases, outlining their trial and appellate proceedings. It also presents an engaging debate about the legitimacy and the utility of judicial policy making. New to this edition: • Expanded appendices, including a discussion of computerized legal research • New illustrative cases, documents, and web references • All chapters updated to reflect changes since the first publication in 2001 The final chapter summarizes the theme of the book, noting that courts not only enforce norms and resolve disputes, but also, as a coequal branch of government, shape the fundamental power relationships that drive American politics. The chapter ends by observing that the judicial process offers a window on the entire American political system. This book clarifies the view from that window.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1420067672/?tag=2022091-20
( This book demonstrates how colleges might retain threat...)
This book demonstrates how colleges might retain threatened varsity programs and expand sports opportunities for women students if they replaced the current commercial model with one that emphasizes student participation. This would benefit the college students who play varsity sports, instead of benefiting the coaches, athletic directors, or over-generous boosters who dominate many programs. In Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education, schools have been handed a golden opportunity to bring fiscal sanity and academic integrity back to their campuses by once again making students, and not money, the focal point of athletic policies. This book demonstrates how colleges might retain threatened varsity programs and expand sports opportunities for women students if they replace the current commercial model with one that emphasizes student participation. This would benefit the college students who play varsity sports, instead of benefiting the coaches, athletic directors, or over-generous boosters who dominate many programs. Reformist tinkering has done little to solve the deep-seated problems plaguing college sports. Porto argues that replacing the enormous commercial pressures corrupting college sports with a student-oriented participation model can solve these problems. Fiscal sanity, academic integrity, personal responsibility, and gender equity in college sports are possible. Faculty members can lead a broader movement to reclaim their institutions from the college sports industry. This book shows how college sports may once again be the integral part of the educational program the NCAA advertises them to be—and that they should be.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0275976998/?tag=2022091-20
(Ideal for courses in constitutional law, judicial process...)
Ideal for courses in constitutional law, judicial process and politics, or law and society, The Craft of Legal Reasoning prepares students for case analysis and debate through systematic instruction in legal language and the legal method. Learning the complex sentence structure of the law can be daunting to undergraduates. With its clear, conversational writing style, Porto offers a "shirt-sleeves" approach to legal terminology and reasoning that students will appreciate. Features: * The author's clear and engaging writing style helps make the content accessible to a wide range of students. * Numerous case examples of the legal method in operation allow students to learn the legal method prior to reading cases on their own. * An illustrative case and set of discussion questions conclude each chapter. * Analysis of the components of legal reasoning as a combination of rules and discretion demonstrates that the law is neither fixed and immutable nor an exercise in unfettered discretion. * Analysis of techniques of statutory and constitutional interpretation illustrates competing schools of judicial thought about legislative history. * Comparison of common law and civil law traditions shows the unique roots of American law and the values that continue to shape it. * A discussion of legal reasoning in the administrative context demonstrates how much law regulatory agencies make and how regulatory issues become legal disputes. * Three helpful appendices explain the structure and jurisdiction of state and federal courts, list the federal apellate circuits, and explain how and where to find the legal sources cited in the book.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0155036963/?tag=2022091-20
(May It Please the Court May It Please the Court This d...)
May It Please the Court May It Please the Court This dynamic new judicial process text is a practical, comprehensive, and engaging introduction to our judicial system. is unique in two important ways: 1) it offers students an insider's view of the courts not found in other texts, and 2) it gives equal attention to the effects of both political and legal influences, respectively, on judicial decisions. Other texts stress the impact of political influences on the judicial process, but understate the impact of legal influences: this text shows that the judicial process operates at the intersection of law and politics, and that it is necessary to understand both law and politics in order to know how courts work. The author, Brian Porto, is a practicing lawyer as well as a political scientist and brings his years of real-world experience to bear on his text. As a result, offers a realistic view of the courts, including their day-to-day procedures, and it conveys the human drama of criminal and civil litigation, which is often missing in other texts. Actual court cases at the end of each chapter give students an opportunity to think critically, and provide a springboard for class discussion.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321036832/?tag=2022091-20
Porto, Brian L. was born on January 25, 1952 in Yonkers, New York, United States. Son of Louis J. and Ann J. Porto.
Bachelor, U Rhode Island, 1974. Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science, Miami U, 1979. Juris Doctor, Indiana U, 1987.
Judicial clerk New Hampshire Supreme Court, Concord, New Hampshire, 1987—1988, Indiana Court of Appeals, Indianapolis, 1988—1989. Professor Macalester College, St. Paul, 1980, Norwich U, Northfield, Vermont, 1990—1993. Attorney Plante, Hanley & Gerety, White River Junction, 1993—1994, private practice, Windsor, since 1995, freelance writer, since 1995.
Advisory board National Institute for Sports Reform, Selkirk, New York, 2003.
(Ideal for courses in constitutional law, judicial process...)
( This book demonstrates how colleges might retain threat...)
( Despite their clarity and sophistication, most judicial...)
(May It Please the Court May It Please the Court This d...)
(2nd edition)
Vice president, board of trustees Windsor Public Library., since 2000. Board directors First Congressional Church, Hartland, since 2002, chair board deacons, since 2002. Member of Am Political Science Association (associate), Indiana State Bar Association (associate), Vermont Bar Association (associate).
Married Sherrie Greeley, June 27, 1992.