Section 1.15 Law and Facts

• Library: App Ct Prac 2015 Supp

2. (§1.15) Law and Facts

Law school graduates love the distinction between law and facts. We use the phrase, “that goes to the facts of the case.” Our jury instructions speak of the judge owning the law and the jury having the facts. Yet, in reality, the distinction is not so clear at all. See Stephen A. Weiner, The Civil Jury Trial and the Law-Fact Distinction, 54 Cal. L. Rev. 1867 (1966); Stephen A. Weiner, The Civil Nonjury Trial and the Law-Fact Distinction, 55 Cal. L. Rev. 1020 (1967). A judge’s “legal” rulings actually are decisions about whether something is a...