Books

School of Law faculty at the University of Georgia author some of our country's leading legal scholarship. The following is a collection of books published by our past and current faculty members. Several faculty members have also created open educational resources made available through open textbook platforms. View a list of our faculty's open educational resource materials.

Printing is not supported at the primary Gallery Thumbnail page. Please first navigate to a specific Image before printing.

Switch View to Grid View Slideshow

Rap on Trial: Race, Lyrics, and Guilt in America

Andrea L. Dennis and Erik Nielson

Should Johnny Cash have been charged with murder after he sang, “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die”? Few would seriously subscribe to this notion of justice. Yet in 2001, a rapper named Mac whose music had gained national recognition was convicted of manslaughter after the prosecutor quoted liberally from his album Shell Shocked. Mac was sentenced to thirty years in prison, where he remains. And his case is just one of many nationwide.

Over the last three decades, as rap became increasingly popular, prosecutors saw an opportunity: they could present the sometimes violent, crime-laden lyrics of amateur rappers as confessions to crimes, threats of violence, or revelations of criminal motive—and judges and juries would go along with it. They’ve reopened cold cases, alleged gang affiliation, and secured convictions by presenting the lyrics and videos of rappers as autobiography. Now, an alarming number of aspiring rappers are imprisoned. No other form of creative expression is treated this way in the courts.

Rap on Trial places this disturbing prosecutorial practice in the context of hip-hop history and exposes what’s at stake. It’s a gripping, timely exploration at the crossroads of contemporary hip-hop and mass incarceration.
The Cambridge Handbook of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability

Beate Sjåfjell and Christopher Bruner

The emerging field of corporate law, corporate governance and sustainability is one of the most dynamic and significant areas of law and policy in light of the convergence of environmental, social and economic crises that we face as a global society. Understanding the impact of the corporation on society and realizing its potential for contributing to sustainability is vital for the future of humanity. This Handbook comprehensively assesses the state-of-the-art in this field through in-depth discussion of sustainability-related problems, numerous case studies on regulatory responses implemented by jurisdictions around the world, and analyses of predominant strategies and potential drivers of change. This Handbook will be an essential reference for scholars, students, practitioners, policymakers, and general readers interested in how corporate law and governance have exacerbated global society's most pressing challenges, and how reforms to these fields can help us resolve those challenges and achieve sustainability.
Defending the Public's Enemy: The Life and Legacy of Ramsey Clark

Lonnie T. Brown

What led a former United States Attorney General to become one of the world's most notorious defenders of the despised? Defending the Public's Enemy examines Clark's enigmatic life and career in a quest to answer this perplexing question.

The culmination of ten years of research and interviews, Lonnie T. Brown, Jr. explores how Clark evolved from our government's chief lawyer to a strident advocate for some of America's most vilified enemies. Clark's early career was enmeshed with seminally important people and events of the 1960s: Martin Luther King, Jr., Watts Riots, Selma-to-Montgomery March, Black Panthers, Vietnam. As a government insider, he worked to secure the civil rights of black Americans, resisting persistent, racist calls for more law and order. However, upon entering the private sector, Clark seemingly changed, morphing into the government's adversary by aligning with a mystifying array of demonized clients—among them, alleged terrorists, reputed Nazi war criminals, and brutal dictators, including Saddam Hussein.

Is Clark a man of character and integrity, committed to ensuring his government's adherence to the ideals of justice and fairness, or is he a professional antagonist, anti-American and reflexively contrarian to the core? The provocative life chronicled in Defending the Public's Enemy is emblematic of the contradictions at the heart of American political history, and society's ambivalent relationship with dissenters and outliers, as well as those who defend them.
Mass Tort Deals: Backroom Bargaining in Multidistrict Litigation

Elizabeth Chamblee Burch

Mass-tort lawsuits over products like pelvic and hernia mesh, Roundup, opioids, talcum powder, and hip implants consume a substantial part of the federal civil caseload. But multidistrict litigation, which federal courts use to package these individual tort suits into one proceeding, has not been extensively analyzed. In Mass Tort Deals, Elizabeth Chamblee Burch marshals a wide array of empirical data to suggest that a systematic lack of checks and balances in our courts may benefit everyone but the plaintiffs - the very people who are often unable to stand up for themselves. Rather than faithfully representing them, plaintiffs' lawyers may sell them out in backroom settlements that compensate lawyers handsomely, pay plaintiffs little, and deny them the justice they seek. From diagnosis to reforms, Burch's goal isn't to eliminate these suits; it's to save them. This book is a must read for concerned citizens, policymakers, lawyers, and judges alike.
Execution by Family: A Theory of Honor Violence

Mark Cooney

Across many parts of the world, violence inflicted in the name of family honor is attracting an increasing amount of attention. Family honor violence, otherwise known as honor-based violence, is physical force inflicted primarily on women for conduct defined as dishonorable. This book explores these conflicts of honor, how they are triggered, how they are handled, and why some lead to death.

Drawing on a range of case studies and employing Donald Black’s concept of social geometry, Execution by Family incorporates and goes beyond patriarchy, culture, and kinship to develop a unified theory of family honor violence. It discusses the "honor belt," a series of countries stretching from north Africa to southeast Asia, in which similar forms of inequality, patriarchy, group authority, and gerontocracy are prevalent and how, within the confines of this inequality, honor violence flourishes. Reviewing survey data and pointing to a multi-pronged, cross-national social movement, the book also discusses the future of honor-based violence.

Given the growing awareness of family honor violence, Execution by Family will be of interest to anybody concerned with family conflict, violence, crime, and popular morality. It will be invaluable reading for academics and students in the fields of criminology, criminal justice, sociology, social psychology, and anthropology.
State and Local Taxation, Cases and Materials (Eleventh Edition)

Walter Hellerstein, Kirk J. Stark, John A. Swain, and Joan M. Youngman

The Hellerstein casebook, now authored by four leading experts in the field, provides a comprehensive overview of the field of state and local taxation (SALT), reflecting the most recent developments in this rapidly changing field. The book weaves together two structural approaches to SALT — i.e., by constitutional doctrine (e.g., due process, interstate commerce, equal protection) and by type of tax (individual income, corporate income, sales/use, property). This analytical structure is designed to give students an in-depth understanding of both the fiscal architecture of SALT and the major constitutional limits on subnational taxing power.
Healthism: Health-status Discrimination and the Law

Elizabeth Weeks and Jessica L. Roberts

Can an employer refuse to hire someone who tests positive for nicotine or alcohol? Can an airline or movie theatre require overweight customers to purchase two seats? Can a health insurance company refuse to sell policies to those most in need of medical care? Can the government condition public assistance on wellness program participation or work activity? In this illuminating book, Jessica L. Roberts and Elizabeth Weeks consider these and similar questions, offering readers a nuanced analysis of when and why discrimination based on health status - or 'healthism' - should be allowed, and when it should not. They provide a methodology to distinguish desirable health-based classifications from the undesirable, and propose law and policy solutions to encourage the former and limit the latter. This work should be read by anyone concerned with how government does - and does not - regulate based on health.
Stay Ahead of the Pack: Your Comprehensive Guide to the Upper Level Curriculum

Gregg Polsky, Robert L. Glicksman, David C. Gary, Andrew Lund, Eric Miller, and W. Bradley Wendel

Built on the very successful model of Get a Running Start: Your Comprehensive Guide to the First Year Curriculum, this book offers a global overview of the core upper-level bar courses in a single volume. In accessible, short lessons, Stay Ahead of the Pack covers all the major concepts taught in each of the courses most commonly taken by second- and third-year law students: administrative law, business associations, criminal procedure, evidence, personal income tax, and professional responsibility. Each of the chapters is written by a specialist in the field who is a decorated teacher with years of experience in the classroom. In this volume, they have distilled that experience and expertise to produce the tool they wish they had when they were in law school: a clear, concise introduction to all the upper-level bar courses that form the core of the second- and third-year curriculum. Get a Running Start has proved to be a valuable tool for first-year law students, heralded as a “must read” that “covers everything,” “should be required reading for every incoming law student,” and is “of great help when reviewing and studying for exams.” Stay Ahead of the Pack provides the same competitive advantage for second- and third-year law students. By reading through the chapter for a course, students will get a complete overview early in the semester. As the semester goes forward, students can accelerate their learning and comprehension by reviewing individual lessons when preparing for class. As the semester comes to a close, the lessons in this book provide a framework for outlining and exam preparation. And after graduation, the materials in this book will be valuable for aspiring new lawyers as they study for the bar exam. Outside the classroom, Stay Ahead of the Pack offers a stimulating introduction to fundamental legal concepts that will engage citizens who want to know more about the law as a central feature of public life and legal issues commonly featured in the news and policy debates. Among the many features readers will find useful are: •Up-to-date content that includes the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and major Supreme Court cases from the 2017-2018 term including Carpenter v. United States.•An introductory chapter offering advice on how to structure a successful class preparation and study process.•Short lessons that provide readers with an introduction to the major concepts for a day or week of law school classes in 10-15 minutes.•Complete course coverage that will allow readers to get a global overview of a core curriculum bar course in the span of an afternoon.•Frequent use of examples and hypotheticals to illustrate major points in an accessible way.•Short “Takeaway” summaries at the end of each lesson that highlight the main points and provide a quick reference or refresher.
Cook's Field Guide to Prosecution in Georgia

Alan A. Cook

In this practical guidebook former district attorney and director of the University of Georgia's School of Law Prosecutorial Justice Program Alan Cook shares his personal wisdom and advice gathered from his decades of experience into a single volume. The handbook includes introductions to each chapter topic, plus both quick and detailed reference sections on all aspects of criminal law and procedure. It also includes useful appendices with step-by-step practice guides for how to perform specific prosecutorial tasks (such as how to take a guilty plea). Law student testimonies from now seasoned attorneys at the start of the book indicate the potential for this set of resources to students interested in becoming prosecutors as well as those already practicing.
Intellectual Property Law: Cases & Materials (6th edition)

Joseph S. Miller and Lydia Pallas Loren

Version 6.0 continues to provide engaging and challenging coverage of all the major types of intellectual property law: trade secret, patent, copyright, and trademark law. Covering cases and developments through Spring 2018, the Sixth Edition includes all the latest Supreme Court cases that are vital to a survey course. Each chapter continues to optimize clear presentation of tightly edited cases and concise notes and questions.

The book kicks off with an introductory chapter that explores the basic policies animating intellectual property law, and concludes with two overarching chapters—one on intellectual property limits (preemption and first sale), and one on remedies (redressing past harm and preventing future harm). This book is designed to guide student analysis, as well as to challenge students to make vital connections within and across doctrines and policies. Finally, the authors—both veteran teachers of the intellectual property law survey course—offer a comprehensive Teacher's Manual on request.