Janus-Faced Facts: How Courts Find Facts that ‘Make’ Law 

Like the Cheshire Cat, the distinction between law and fact appears everywhere and yet eludes those who would grasp it. The Constitution acknowledges it. Many procedural rules depend upon it. And yet no one has found a definition that satisfies all the people all the time. The problem is particularly acute for propositions that bear characteristics of both law and fact. This talk will trace the rise of this special kind of fact and shine a spotlight on the unusual way our judicial system has gone about finding it.