Great new Book Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts

 As an opposition researcher I am often asked by students, politicians and journalists "What areas of oppo are often overlooked in researching your opponent".  My first response is Understanding the law.  In many cases I've worked red flags have been raised simply by the fact that I uncovered campaign finance laws were violated.  I highly recommend anyone looking to become an oppo or to understand what we do, Understand the law.  Especially campaign finance law.  You will almost always uncover violations or perhaps inconsistencies in your opponents legal methods.  Many violations occur by complete mistake.  But not knowing is no excuse.   I also highly recommend that if you are not an attorney, team up with an experienced election lawyer.  I just ran across this book on Amazon by Antonin Scalia and can't wait to get my hands on it.  You don't have to be an attorney to become an oppo, but a good working knowledge of the law can trigger violations.  Of course, you should always consult an attorney for verification sake.  In a lot of campaigns I've worked, a sledgehammer was not enough.  It took a wrecking Ball.  That usually comes when your opponent violated the law, knowingly or unknowingly.  This book may be a great start to understanding how to read the nebulous world of law!!

Book Description

Publication Date: June 19, 2012 | ISBN-10: 031427555X | ISBN-13: 978-0314275554 | Edition: 1

In this groundbreaking book by best-selling authors Justice Antonin Scalia and Bryan A. Garner, all the most important principles of constitutional, statutory, and contractual interpretation are systematically explained in an engaging and informative style-including several hundred illustrations from actual cases. Never before has legal interpretation been so fascinatingly explained. Both authors are individually renowned for their scintillating prose styles, and together they make even the seemingly dry subject of legal interpretation riveting. Though intended primarily for judges and the lawyers who appear before them to argue the meaning of texts, Reading Law is sound educational reading for anyone who seeks to understand how judges decide cases-or should decide cases. The book is a superb introduction to modern judicial decision-making. Justice Scalia, with 25 years of experience on the Supreme Court, is the foremost expositor of textualism in the world today. Bryan A. Garner, as editor in chief of Black's Law Dictionary and author of Garner's Dictionary of Legal Usage, is the most renowned expert on the language of the law. Reading Law is an essential guide to anyone who wishes to prevail in a legal argument-based on a constitution, a statute, or a contract. The book is calculated to promote valid interpretations: if you have lame arguments, you'll deplore the book; if you have strong arguments, you'll exalt it. But whatever your position, you'll think about law more clearly than ever before.