Being Frank About the Fourth: On Allen’s “Process of ‘Factualization’ in the Search and Seizure Cases”

An invitation to participate in a special issue for such an inestimable personage as Francis Allen is itself a distinct honor – so much so, in fact, that refusal seems out of the question no matter what risks may attend this undertaking. The principal risk, as I see it, is that if one’s contribution were to be assessed by a reader who, by virtue of this collection of essays, was also reflecting upon the writings of Allen, one is bound to come out the loser in any comparison. But I assume this risk, as substantial as it doubtless is in my case, so that I may join in the celebration of the remarkable accomplishments of an outstanding law teacher and legal scholar over a career that has so far spanned almost forty years.