NCJ Number
89039
Date Published
1981
Length
17 pages
Annotation
The present legal system, a social invention of the 18th century, is so out of touch with the technologically complex society it serves as to be a major threat to democracy.
Abstract
The law is mainly committed to proceduralism and legalism; it has no interest in justice or even commonsense. It has no way to forecast, monitor, or receive feedback from its decisions. Lawyers are the product of an inadequate and even dangerous education; there are too many of them engaged in activities for which they have no helpful knowledge or processes for gaining it. The legal system has grown useless because of the middle class' tendency to 'systematize' everything, or create a system to solve all problems. The political system itself glorifies 18th century inventions, which are incapable of addressing the present world. Society needs a new Constitution and Bill of Rights, greater reliance on courts of equity, reformed legal education and far fewer lawyers, new ways of dealing with crimes, and positive incentives for the bureaucracy. Twenty-two references are included. (Author abstract modified)