The Effect of an Unconstitutional Statute

ISBN-13: 9781584771814; ISBN-10: 158477181X. Field, Oliver P. The Effect of an Unconstitutional Statute. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1935. xi, 355 pp. Reprint The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., 2002. ISBN-13: 9781584771814. Smyth sewn brown cloth with gilt stamped spine and front cover. New. $80. * First published in 1935 during the height of the New Deal constitutional crisis, Field's monograph remains a seminal work on American judicial review. Moving beyond the theoretical validity of court powers, Field addresses the messy administrative consequences of judicial nullification, charting how American courts transitioned away from the traditional doctrine of void ab initio toward a more realistic, case-by-case adjudicative framework. His chapters meticulously trace the downstream effects of invalidation on public officers, private corporations, and state tax systems. "The varying meanings of the process of 'declaring a statute unconstitutional' or unenforceable, the meaning of 'unconstitutionality,' the legal effect of the tainted statute or its defective part, and of the decision branding it, are the subject matter of this scholarly and effective book." Edwin Borchard, Yale Law Journal 45:1533. References: Marke, A Catalogue of the Law Collection at New York University (1953) 397-398.…