"The United States Code is the official codification of the general and permanent laws of the United States of America. The Code was first published in 1926, and a new edition of the code has been published every six years since 1934. The 2012 edition of the Code incorporates laws enacted through the One Hundred Twelfth Congress, Second Session, the last of which was signed by the President on January 15, 2013. It does not include laws of the One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, First Session, enacted between January 2, 2013, the date it convened, and January 15, 2013. By statutory authority this edition may be cited "U.S.C. 2012 ed." As adopted in 1926, the Code established prima facie the general and permanent laws of the United States. The underlying statutes reprinted in the Code remained in effect and controlled over the Code in case of any discrepancy. In 1947, Congress began enacting individual titles of the Code into positive law. When a title is enacted into positive law, the underlying statutes are repealed and the title then becomes legal evidence of the law. Currently, 26 of the 51 titles in the Code have been so enacted. These are identified in the table of titles near the beginning of each volume. The Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives continues to prepare legislation pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 285b to enact the remainder of the Code, on a title-by-title basis, into positive law. The 2012 edition of the Code was prepared and published under the supervision of Ralph V. Seep, Law Revision Counsel. Grateful acknowledgment is made of the contributions by all who helped in this work, particularly the staffs of the Office of the Law Revision Counsel and the Government Printing Office"--Preface.

There has been much debate in scholarship over the factors determining the outcome of legal hearings in classical Athens. Specifically, there is divergence regarding the extent to which judicial panels were influenced by non-legal considerations in addition to, or even instead of, questions of law. Ancient rhetorical theory and practice devoted much attention to character and it is this aspect of Athenian law which forms the focus of this book. Close analysis of the dispute-resolution passages in ancient Greek literature reveals striking similarities with the rhetoric of litigants in the Athenian courts and thus helps to shed light on the function of the courts and the fundamental nature of Athenian law. The widespread use of character evidence in every aspect of argumentation can be traced to the Greek ideas of ‘character’ and ‘personality’, the inductive method of reasoning, and the social, political and institutional structures of the ancient Greek polis. According to the author’s proposed method of interpretation, character evidence was not a means of diverting the jury’s attention away from the legal issues; instead, it was a constructive and relevant way of developing a legal argument.

The use of character in the criminal trial raises a number of controversial issues such as the nature of criminal responsibility, the link between past and future behavior, and the way juries and judges reason about evidence of prior wrongdoing. This book reassesses and reflects on the significance of the law's increasing emphasis on character.

"Learn a few simple rules and amaze your friends. There is much more than that to evidence law, but you do have to learn the basic structure to do well in an evidence course, the bar examination, or actual litigation. And it is only when you understand the explicit doctrines of evidence law that you can spot the sophisticated and complicated ambiguities that remain even after the adoption of a code, the Federal Rules of Evidence"--

Handbook of Massachusetts Evidence is the premier work in its field. This comprehensive and practical guide to the law of Massachusetts evidence gives you the latest case law and up-to-date information on all evidentiary matters, including:RelevanceNew kinds of scientific and statistical evidenceCharacter evidenceAdmissibility of confessionsPrivileges and disqualifications Domestic Abuse Prevention StatuteExpert testimony In addition, this new updated Eighth Edition has been expanded to cover recent topics such as: Expert testimony and scientific proof Hearsay Developments in criminal trials With detailed reference to all significant Massachusetts and federal cases with a bearing on the law of evidence, this trial attorney's 'bible' provides all the insightful analysis you need for practical, day-to-day use.