Title
Overinterpreting Law
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2012
Abstract
Overinterpretation has attracted considerable attention in other fields, such as literary studies, science, and rhetoric, but it is undertheorized in law. This Article attempts to initiate a theory of legal overinterpretation by examining the rhetorical nature of excess, the sociological dimensions of roles in team performances, and citation to legal and non-legal sources that have discussed overinterpretation. The Article concludes by positing illustrative categories of potential legal overinterpretation, and providing an examination of ways to minimize legal overinterpretation through a judicious, pragmatic balance between abstract considerations and concrete considerations in law.
Recommended Citation
Robert F. Blomquist, Overinterpreting Law, 116 Penn St. L. Rev. 1081 (2012).