THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF LAW Introductory Readings First Edition

Austin Sarat (editor), Amherst University

ISBN:1-931719-20-9

©2004, softbound, 596 pages

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Austin Sarat's THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF LAW: INTRODUCTORY READINGS begins with a simple premise--law seeks to work in the world, to order, change, and give meaning to society--and describes legal processes as socially organized. This book connects legal studies to the study of society in two different senses. First, the readings highlight law's responsiveness to various dimensions of social stratification. They also draw attention to the questions of when, why, and how legal decisions and actions respond to the social characteristics (e.g. race, class, and gender) of those making the decisions as well as those who are subject to them. These questions inevitably raise issues of justice and fairness, highlighting the moral dimensions of legal life. Second, Sarat treats law itself as a social organization, emphasizing the complex relations between its various component parts (e.g., judges and jurors, police and prosecutors, appellate courts, and trial courts). The book examines the traditional subject of professional legal study--namely appellate court opinions--and describes some of the most pressing controversies of legal interpretation while questioning how those opinions take on meaning in social life. Sarat also questions whether those at the top of law's bureaucratic structure effectively control the behavior of others in the legal system's chain of command. This anthology provides accessible, up-to-date materials (such as readings on terrorism and the challenges it poses to law, racial profiling, and gay rights) juxtaposed to the classics of the field. Introductions to each reading, along with the notes and questions written by the author, unpack the issues and engage students, enabling them to link the material from one chapter to another. Additional suggested readings provide stimulus for further inquiry. THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF LAW offers students a broad perspective that treats law as a set of institutions and practices combining moral argument, distinctive interpretive traditions, and the social organization of violence.                     TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION PART I. WHEN LAW FAILS Section 1. The Limits of Legal Protection  1. 'Hockey Dad's Death Probed as Homicide,' Ed Hayward and David Talbot  2. 'Dad Sentenced to 6 to 10 Years for Rink Death,' Geraldine Baum  3. DeShaney v. Winnebago  4. 'A Crime of Self Defense,' George Fletcher  5. 'In the Nation's Capital, It's the Season of Insecurity,' Jon Schmitz, Pittsburgh Post Gazette  6. 'The Spirit of the Laws,' Harold Koh Section 2. What Law Is For  7. 'Leviathan,' Thomas Hobbes  8. 'Law as a Weapon in Social Conflict,' Austin Turk  9. 'On Liberty,' John Stuart Mill 10. Lawrence v. Texas 11. 'Law as Rhetoric, Rhetoric as Law,' James Boyd White PART II. THE SEARCH FOR LAW Section 3. Three Dilemmas of Social Organization Accessibility 12. 'Before the Law,' Franz Kafka    Severity and Leniency 13. 'Property, Authority and the Criminal Law,' Douglas Hay Bureaucratic Control and Rule Following 14. 'Violence and the Word,' Robert Cover PART III. ACCESS TO JUSTICE: THE DEMAND FOR LAW AND LAW'S DEMANDS Section 4. Lining Up at the Door of Law 15. 'The Emergence and Transformation of Disputes,' William Felstiner, Richard Abel, and Austin Sarat 16. 'Liability: The Legal Revolution and Its Consequences,' Peter Huber 17. 'The Crisis Is Injuries, Not Liability,' Richard Abel 18. 'How Jury Decided How Much the Coffee Spill Was Worth,' Andrea Gerling 19. 'Jurors' Judgments of Business Liability in Tort Cases,' Valerie Hans and William Loftquist Section 5. Lawyers in Civil Cases 20. 'Lawyers and Consumer Protection Laws,' Stewart Macaulay 21. 'The Justice Broker: Lawyers & Ordinary Litigation,' Hebert Kritzer 22. 'The Impact of Legal Counsel on Outcomes for Poor Tenants in New York City's Housing Court,' Carroll Seron, et. al. Section 6. Whose Law Is It Anyway? 23. Rusk v. Maryland 24. 'Rape,' Susan Estrich 25. 'Risking Relationships,' Phoebe Morgan 26. 'Rights Talk and the Experience of Law,' Sally Engle Merry Section 7. Who Speaks and Who Is Heard: The Continuing Significance of Class 27. Goldberg v. Kelley 28. 'Subordination, Rhetorical Survival Skills, and Sunday Shoes,' Lucie White 29. 'Dependency by Law,' Frank Munger PART IV. SEVERITY AND LENIENCY: ADMINISTERING A SYSTEM OF DISCRETIONARY JUSTICE Section 8. From Severity to Leniency: Plea Bargaining and the Possibility of Justice 30. 'American Courts: Process and Policy,' Lawrence Baum 31. Scott v. United States 32. 'Torture and Plea Bargaining,' John Langbein Section 9. Lawyers in Criminal Cases 33. 'Convictability and Discordant Locales,' Lisa Frohmann 34. 'Understanding Lawyers' Ethics,' Monroe Freedman and Abbe Smith 35. 'Fine Line in Indictment: Defense vs. Complicity,' Laura Mansnerus 36. 'Defending White Collar Crime,' Kenneth Mann 37. 'The Practice of Law as a Confidence Game,' Abraham S. Blumberg Section 10. Juries in Criminal Cases: Biased or Conscientious Judgment 38. 'Trial By Jury,' Alex de Tocqueville 39. 'Are Twelve Heads Better Than One?' Phoebe Ellsworth 40. 'Jury Duty: When History and Life Coincide,' Elisabeth Perry 41. 'When Race Trumps Truth in Court,' Michael Weiss and Karl Zinsmeister 42. United States v. Thomas Section 11. Sentencing 43. 'Federal Sentencing Guidelines: A View From the Bench,' Nancy Gertner 44. Ewing v. California 45. 'Thirty Years of Sentencing Reform,' Cassia Spohn 46. 'Sizing up Sentences,' Michael Higgins V. ORGANIZING LAW'S VIOLENCE Section 12. Policing the Police 47. 'Justice Without Trial,' Jerome Skolnick 48. 'Broken Windows,' James Q. Wilson and George Kelling 49. 'Policing Disorder,' Bernard Harcourt 50. 'Profiles in Justice? Police Discretion, Symbolic Assailants, and Stereotyping,' Milton Heumann and Lance Cassak 51. 'The Myth of Racial Profiling,' Heather MacDonald 52. Tennessee v. Garner 53. 'Officers in Bronx Fire 41 Shots, and an Unarmed Man Is Killed,' Michael Cooper, New York Times 54. 'To Shoot or Not? Fellow Officers Say They Fear Facing Same Decision,' Katherine Finkelstein, New York Times 55. 'Want to Torture? Get a Warrant,' Alan M. Dershowitz Section 13. Punishment: Imprisonment 56. 'Persons and Punishment,' Herbert Morris 57. 'Punishment, Power, and Justice,' Patricia Ewick 58. United States v. Bailey    59. 'Deadly Symbiosis: Rethinking Race and Imprisonment in Twenty-First Century America,' Loïc Wacquant Section 14. The Death Penalty: Controlling Juries/Preventing Discrimination 60. Furman v. Georgia 61. Gregg v. Georgia 62. McClesky v. Kemp 63. 'Folk Knowledge as Legal Action,' Benjamin Steiner, et. al. Section 15. The Future of Capital Punishment 64. 'God's Justice and Ours,' Antonin Scalia 65. 'I Must Act,' George Ryan CONCLUSION INDEX