The Savannah Law Review is hosting a symposium on "American Legal Fictions" on September 22. Cribbing now from their call for papers:
The law is enmeshed with fictions. The judiciary as truthseeker disdains perjury yet imports hypothetical realities to attain justice within strict legal frameworks. The legislature mandates meanings to common words that often approach the realm of fantasy. Assignment of fiction within the law has provoked robust academic attention and debate regarding its utility and propriety.
Legal fictions have roots in Ancient Roman law in which praetors (magistrates) bound by laws could use equitable principles to alleviate harsh legal consequences. America advances legal fictions through the common law to soften rigid legal rules. Today, our courts and legislatures continue to fashion new legal fictions—possibly theorized as each party’s attempts to usurp the other. Examples of legal fictions abound from constitutional interpretation to granting remedies by expanding rights.
Professor Garrett Epps, contributing editor for The Atlantic and Professor of Law at University of Baltimore School of Law, will present the keynote address for American Legal Fictions.
Please submit an abstract no longer than 500 words by August 22, 2016, to be considered for participation. We welcome interdisciplinary submissions from students, professors, and practitioners. Selections for participation will be announced on a rolling basis. For participants also selected for publication, a completed paper will be due by October 17, 2016. Savannah Law Review’s Spring Issue will include selected written submissions to American Legal Fictions. American Legal Fictions will take place at Savannah Law School on September 16, 2016, with a variety of roundtable presentations, panels, and speakers. Topics for the event include: Legal Facts as Fiction, Identity Fictions, Myths of Justice, and Power of Fictions in Right.
This is an exciting topic -- and if you haven't had the chance to visit Savannah and the Savannah Law School, this is a great opportunity to do so.
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