Ira Ellman

Professor Ira Ellman recently published an article entitled, “Abstract Principles and Concrete Cases in Intuitive Lawmaking,” in the Law and Human Behavior Journal.

The article, which Ellman co-authored with Sanford Braver and Rob MacCoun, explores responses of ordinary people who were asked their intuitive thoughts about the appropriate child support payments depending on the disparity in income between the two parents. It also highlights the respondents’ thoughts on abstract subjects like distributive justice.

To read the article’s abstract, click here.

Ellman’s current scholarly projects include an empirical investigation into how people make judgments about appropriate legal rules and a book for Oxford University Press about the difficulties inherent in implementing family policy through family law. He is an affiliate faculty member of the Center for Child and Youth Policy at the University of California, Berkeley.