Faculty

Mitchell Berman

Leon Meltzer Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy

Mitch Berman writes and teaches in American constitutional law, constitutional theory, philosophy of criminal law, general jurisprudence, and philosophy of sport. His work and thinking in these diverse fields is unified and shaped by his interest in deepening our understanding of normativity and normative systems. Continue reading…

Publications
Working Papers

Articles and Book Chapters

The Tragedy of Justice Scalia, 115 MICH. L. REV. 783 (2017).

Modest Retributivism, in LEGAL, MORAL, AND METAPHYSICAL TRUTHS: THE PHILOSOPHY OF MICHAEL S. MOORE (Kimberly Kessler Ferzan & Stephen J. Morse eds., Oxford 2016).

Judge Posner's Simple Law. 113 MICH. L. REV. 777 (2015).

Some Skepticism About Skepticism: A Comment on Katz, 163 U. PA. L. REV. ONLINE 345 (2015)

Conditional Spending and the Conditional Offer Puzzle, in THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT DECISION: PHILOSOPHICAL AND LEGAL IMPLICATIONS (Fritz Allhoff & Mark A. Hall, eds., Routledge 2014).

Abuse of Property Right Without Political Foundations: A Response to Katz, 124 YALE L.J. F. 42 (2014).

On What Distinguishes New Originalism from Old: A Jurisprudential Take, 82 FORDHAM L. REV. 545 (2013) (with Kevin Toh).

Coercion, Compulsion, and the Medicaid Expansion: A Study in the Doctrine of Unconstitutional Conditions, 91 TEX. L. REV. 1283 (2013).

Sprints, Sports, and Suits, 40 J. PHIL. SPORT 163 (2013).

On What Distinguishes New Originalism from Old: A Jurisprudential Take (with Kevin Toh), 82 FORDHAM L. REV. 545 (2013).

Rehabilitating Retributivism, 32 LAW & PHIL. 83 (2013).

Introduction: Punishment and Culpability, 9 OHIO ST. J. CRIM. L. 441 (2012).

Pluralistic Non-originalism and the Combinability Problem, 91 TEX. L. REV. 1739 (2013) (with Kevin Toh).

The Justification of Punishment, in THE ROUTLEDGE COMPANION TO PHILOSOPHY OF LAW 141 (Andrei Marmor ed., Routledge 2012).

Alexander’s Genius, APA NEWSL. PHIL. L., vol. 12, no. 1 (Fall 2012), at 1.

Attempts, in Language and in Law, 6 JERUSALEM REV. LEG. STUD. 1 (2012) (reviewing GIDEON YAFFE, ATTEMPTS (Oxford 2010)).

Two Kinds of Retributivism, in THE PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF CRIMINAL LAW 433 (R. A. Duff & Stuart Green eds., Oxford 2011).

Reflective Equilibrium and Constitutional Method: Lessons from John McCain and the Natural-Born Citizenship Clause, in THE CHALLENGE OF ORIGINALISM 246 (Grant Huscroft & Bradley W. Miller eds., Cambridge University Press 2011).

“Let ‘em Play”: A Study in the Jurisprudence of Sport, 99 GEO L.J. 1325 (2011).

Replay, 99 CAL. L. REV. 1683 (2011).

Provocation Manslaughter as Partial Justification and Partial Excuse, 52 WM. & MARY L. REV. 1027 (2011) (with Ian P. Farrell).

Constitutional Theory and the Rule of Recognition: Toward a Fourth Theory of Law, in THE RULE OF RECOGNITION AND THE U.S. CONSTITUTION 269 (Matthew D. Adler & Kenneth Einar Himma eds., Oxford University Press, 2009).

Originalism Is Bunk, 84 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1 (2009).

Originalism and Its Discontents (Plus a Thought or Two about Abortion), 24 CONST. COMMENT. 383 (2007) (excerpted as chapter 8 in IT IS A CONSTITUTION WE ARE EXPOUNDING: COLLECTED WRITINGS ON INTERPRETING OUR FOUNDING DOCUMENT (2009)).

More publications can be found here.

Working Papers

Of Law and Other Artificial Normative Systems (September 20, 2017), in DIMENSIONS OF NORMATIVITY: NEW ESSAYS ON METAETHICS AND JURISPRUDENCE (D. Plunkett, S. Shapiro, and K. Toh eds. Oxford University Press, forthcoming).; U of Penn Law School, Public Law Research Paper No. 17-42. (forthcoming 2018)
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For Legal Principles (June 20, 2017). U of Penn Law School, Public Law Research Paper No. 17-23. (forthcoming)
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Our Principled Constitution (March 15, 2017). U of Penn Law School, Public Law Research Paper No. 17-15. (forthcoming)
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