Books about Discretion from Amazon.com

No woman sets out to tear down her home. But it happens in many subtle ways - with our attitudes, our words, and our actions Walk verse-by-verse through Proverbs 7 to discover specific characteristics of the foolish woman. A series of penetrating questions is included, to help identify ways that we as women may unknowingly be "tearing down" the lives of those around us..
Price: $3.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Judgement Calls tackles one of the most important and controversial legal questions in contemporary America: How should judges interpret the Constitution? Our Constitution contains a great deal of language that is vague, broad, or ambiguous, making its meaning uncertain. Many people believe this uncertainty allows judges too much discretion. They suggest that constitutional adjudication is just politics in disguise, and that judges are legislators in robes who read the Constitution in accordance with their own political views. Some think that political decision making by judges is inevitable, and others think it can be restrained by "strict constructionist" theories like textualism or originalism. But at bottom, both sorts of thinkers believe that judging has to be either tightly constrained and inflexible or purely political and unfettered: There is, they argue, no middle ground.
Farber and Sherry disagree, and in this book they describe and defend that middle ground. They show how judging can be--and often is--both principled and flexible. In other words, they attempt to reconcile the democratic rule of law with the recognition that judges have discretion. They explain how judicial discretion can be exercised responsibly, describe the existing constraints that guide and cabin such discretion, and suggest improvements.
In exploring how constitutional adjudication works in practice (and how it can be made better), Farber and Sherry cover a wide range of topics that are relevant to their thesis and also independently important, including judicial opinion-writing, the use of precedent, the judicial selection process, the structure of the American judiciary, and the nature of legal education. They conclude with a careful look at how the Supreme Court has treated three of the most significant and sensitive constitutional issues: terrorism, abortion, and affirmative action. Timely, trenchant, and carefully argued, Judgment Calls is a welcome addition to the literature on the intersection of constitutional interpretation and American politics..
Price: $21.55 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Focusing primarily on the exclusion of the Chinese, Lucy Salyer analyzes the popular and legal debates surrounding immigration law and its enforcement during the height of nativist sentiment in the early twentieth century. She argues that the struggles between Chinese immigrants, U.S. government officials, and the lower federal courts that took place around the turn of the century established fundamental principles that continue to dominate immigration law today and make it unique among branches of American law. By establishing the centrality of the Chinese to immigration policy, Salyer also integrates the history of Asian immigrants on the West Coast with that of European immigrants in the East.

Salyer demonstrates that Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans mounted sophisticated and often-successful legal challenges to the enforcement of exclusionary immigration policies. Ironically, their persistent litigation contributed to the development of legal doctrines that gave the Bureau of Immigration increasing power to counteract resistance. Indeed, by 1924, immigration law had begun to diverge from constitutional norms, and the Bureau of Immigration had emerged as an exceptionally powerful organization, free from many of the constraints imposed upon other government agencies..
Price: $19.69 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In the face of near-universal disapproval, between one quarter and one half of all married Americans (including 15-30% of married women) will, at some point, engage in an extramarital affair. They will have either an enriching experience or the sad, destructive, ugly mess for which affairs are far better known. There is one self-help book that every one of these millions of people wants and needs to read. It has never been written. Until now. Affair is for them: a thoughtful, detailed discussion of every aspect of considering, preparing for, beginning and conducting a successful and emotionally fulfilling extramarital affair, including advice, case histories, numerous first-person narratives, humorous anecdotes and step-by-step guidance for every facet of the process. Contrary to what the media like to portray, many of the major pitfalls are avoidable and an extramarital relationship can bring a person greater happiness and personal growth if properly managed. Affair shows how. Key sections include: Making the Decision to Have an Extramarital Affair, Planning and Preparation for the Adventure Ahead, Beginning Your Affair, Managing Stealth: Keeping Your Affair Private in an Unprivate World, Building, Strengthening and Celebrating Your Extramarital Relationship, and Accepting the Odds: Preparing for the Possible With Your Dignity Intact. Contrary to what the media like to portray, an extramarital relationship can bring a person greater happiness and personal growth if properly managed. Affair shows how. .
Price: $17.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Surveying the years between 300 and 1550, this outstanding new textbook brings a long, complex and varied period of European history vividly to life for students, researchers and general readers of this period.

Covering themes as diverse as barbarian migrations, the growth of cities, kingship, religious reform, the Crusades, commerce, the Black Death, and the intellectual and cultural life of the Middle Ages, it explores the driving forces behind the formation of medieval society and the directions in which it developed and changed.

This inspiring textbook:

• provides a clear and stimulating survey account of medieval history over more than a thousand years
• covers all the main issues and themes within a clear interpretive framework
• includes illustrated, focused case studies in each chapter to assist learning, covering topics such as Roman Law, architecture, taxation, advances in medicine, the indulgence trade in the Church and a merchant’s manual
• gives wide geographical coverage and is richly illustrated with over a hundred photos, engravings, maps, tables and figures
• is written by two leaders in their field with the most up-to-date research and reading.

Taking a world that, by modern standards, was technologically underdeveloped, poor, unjust, violent, and dominated by figures of almost mythical proportions such as Saint Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and Joan of Arc, Wim Blockmanns and Peter Hoppenbrouwers have produced a textbook that should, without doubt, take its rightful place on the reading list of any student of European history

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Price: $33.01 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In the 1980s and '90s many countries turned to the private sector to provide infrastructure and utilities, such as gas, telephones, and highways--with the idea that market-based incentives would control costs and improve the quality of essential services. But subsequent debacles including the collapse of California's wholesale electricity market and the bankruptcy of Britain's largest railroad company have raised troubling questions about privatization. This book addresses one of the most vexing of these: how can government fairly and effectively regulate "natural monopolies"--those infrastructure and utility services whose technologies make competition impractical?

Rather than sticking to economics, José Gómez-Ibáñez draws on history, politics, and a wealth of examples to provide a road map for various approaches to regulation. He makes a strong case for favoring market-oriented and contractual approaches--including private contracts between infrastructure providers and customers as well as concession contracts with the government acting as an intermediary--over those that grant government regulators substantial discretion. Contracts can provide stronger protection for infrastructure customers and suppliers--and greater opportunities to tailor services to their mutual advantage. In some cases, however, the requirements of the firms and their customers are too unpredictable for contracts to work, and alternative schemes may be needed.

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Price: $26.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"The Margin of Appreciation Doctrine in the Dynamics of European Human Rights Jurisprudence" is a full-length monograph to treat this subject, which is of importance to the interpretation and application of the European Convention on Human Rights. It should aid the understanding and appreciation of judges, advocates, civil servants, scholars, researchers, students, and of anyone whose life and work is affected by national and international human rights adjudication. This analysis synthesizes the work of the Strasbourg judicial organs, proceeding in the light of the ongoing debates on the appropriate place of the margin doctrine in the Strasbourg jurisprudence. The text is written in a clear and precise style which should be appreciated by the novice and specialist alike. The newcomer to human rights and to the Convention may find it a useful introduction to complex material; the expert should gain new and expanded insights into the development of the case law..
Price: $134.42 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Criticisms of how police exercise their authority are neither new nor uncommon. Police officers have considerable power, and they often must draw on that power in complex and pressing circumstances. This collection of essays by fifteen leading specialists in ethics and criminal justice examines the nature of police discretion and its many varieties. The essays explore the kinds of judgment calls police officers frequently must make: When should they get involved? Whom should they watch? What constitutes a "disturbance of the peace"? What resources should be devoted to a situation? Does social welfare take precedence over law enforcement? Under what conditions, if any, may police officers engage in selective enforcement of the law? Each essay or pair of essays is followed by a response, making "Handled with Discretion" an excellent text for stimulating discussion in the classroom..
Price: $25.96 [Notify me when price goes down.]