Real and Imagined Threats to the Rule of Law: On Brian Tamanaha's Law as a Means to an End

Abstract

This is a review of Professor Brian Tamanaha's Law as a Means to an End. The book, which was published in 2006 by Cambridge University Press, received rave reviews and was selected in 2007 for special honor by the Association of American Publishers. The article explains Tamanaha's thesis, and subjects it to critical analysis. It concludes that the thesis is wrong, and that it is in conflict with the lessons of the most famous debate in modern jurisprudence - that between H.L.A Hart and Lon Fuller. The article goes on to argue that Tamanaha's view of proper legal interpretation is in fact no different than that of his book's archenemy, Richard Posner's brand of legal pragmatism.