Private Law Theory

Introduction:
… Some argued that equity judges had the power to render a just judgment any time natural law compelled a result different from the dictates of common law precedent (the ‘expansive view’). Others saw equity merely as a parallel system that did not in essence differ from the common law: governed by precedent and bound by rules (the ‘restrictive’ view). That debate came to the United States along with equity, and it has continued to the present day. The Supreme Court has always been at the center of this debate. During the first half-century of the nation’s existence, the Court fluctuated from an expansive view of equity to a restrictive one and back again. Recent Supreme Court opinions have given voice to both views of equity. This Note will propose a synthesis between the restrictive and the expansive views …

James Fullmer, The Outer Limits of Equity: A Proposal for Cautious Expansion. Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, Volume 39 – Issue 2 (2016).

First posted 2016-06-05 10:48:34