We are capable of writing crisp yet flexible laws, but Solan explains that difficult cases result when the ways in which our cognitive and linguistic faculties

This book tells what the language of the law is, how it got that way and how it works out in the practice. The emphasis is more historical than philosophical, m

Including a discussion of legislative powers, constitutional regulations relative to the forms of legislation and to legislative procedure.

In an ideal world, the laws of Congress--known as federal statutes--would always be clearly worded and easily understood by the judges tasked with interpreting

This history of legal language slices through the polysyllabic thicket of legalese. The text shows to what extent legalese is simply a product of its past and d