Supreme Court Cites Pepperdine Law Review Article

In a concurring opinion in Kansas v. Nebraska and Colorado, 574 U. S. ____ (2015), Associate Justice Antonin Scalia cited a Pepperdine Law Review article by W. Noel Keyes entitled The Restatement (Second): Its Misleading Quality and a Proposal for Its Amelioration, 13 PEPP. L. REV. 23, 24–25 (1985). 

The Restatements of the Law are treatises on legal subjects that judges and lawyers frequently rely upon for general principles of common law. The treatises are published by the American Law Institute, an organization of judges, legal academics, and practitioners.

In his remarks, Scalia wrote, "odern Restatements—such as the Restatement (Third) of Restitution and Unjust Enrichment (2010), which both opinions address in their discussions of the disgorgement remedy—are of questionable value, and must be used with caution. The object of the original Restatements was 'to present an orderly statement of the general common law.' Restatement of Conflict of Laws, Introduction, p. viii (1934). Over time, the Restatements’ authors have abandoned the mission of describing the law, and have chosen instead to set forth their aspirations for what the law ought to be. Keyes, The Restatement (Second): Its Misleading Quality and a Proposal for Its Amelioration, 13 Pepp. L. Rev. 23, 24–25 (1985)."

Read the full Supreme Court opinion here.

Read the Pepperdine Law Review article here.