NCJ Number
88161
Date Published
1982
Length
480 pages
Annotation
This introductory text provides a jurisprudential perspective by discussing the law's interdependence with the social environment, the law's social functions, the social and moral limits on the law's efficacy, and the inescapable role of values in legal judgment. It uses a particular case to illustrate the legal process.
Abstract
The text deals with various aspects of a case involving the law of privacy that was litigated in the Federal courts of South Carolina in the 1960's. A State criminal law prohibiting publication of the name of a rape victim was invoked in a privacy-invasion damage suit against a television broadcasting corporation by two rape victims (well-known performers in a traveling puppet show), claiming a television broadcast had named them, at least indirectly. Various aspects of the case and the legal process are supplemented with background notes. The pleadings, the trial court and appellate court opinions in the litigated case, plus the lawyer's appellate briefs are presented, along with a discussion of appellate advocacy. The text explains the court's treatment of the South Carolina statute and discusses some basic issues of interpretation. In addition, the court's handling of case precedents is analyzed, and constitutional issues that might have been raised -- but were not -- are noted. Numerous notes and an index are supplied. Appendixes discuss some mechanics of law study and the Bill of Rights protections against government procedures in a criminal case.