Peggy Cooper Davis

'There is a Book Out...': An Analysis of Judicial Absorption of Legislative Facts

Professor Davis examines a national set of judicial reliance on psychological parent theory to expose risks related to undisciplined judicial notice of legislative facts.

Contested Images of Family Values: The Role of the State

Professor Davis argues that racially biased distortions of the history of Civil War and Reconstruction have affected the Supreme Court’s understanding of the meaning of free citizenship in the United States post-slavery.

Reconstructing Law and Marriage

Professor Davis joins feminist scholar Carol Gilligan in an admiring critique of Nancy Cott‘s ground-breaking book, Public Vows, A History of Marriage and the Nation.

Law, Science, and History: Reflections Upon in the Best Interests of the Child

Professor Davis reviews the work of Goldstein, Freud and Solnit and their influence on child custody and parental rights determinations.

Bringing Wonderment to the Legal Academy

In the 1980s, the NYU law school was pioneering a quiet revolution in legal education. Anthony Amsterdam, legendary both as a litigator and as a legal scholar, was leading the best clinical program in United States legal education and beginning to expand the use of experiential learning throughout the law school curriculum. A huge and anxiety-inducing task. Happily, we encountered Jerome Bruner, a Pied Piper of interdisciplinary wonder. Jerry was the perfect tutor for legal educators trying to develop—and to share with students—a sophistication about how law is practiced, made, and used.