Gender, Race, Social Class, and Law
This article completely brought me back into one of my previous classes with Professor Baker from last semester. The class Drugs and Society, which is my favorite class of all time exmamined how the drug laws were completely gendered, racist and biased for the lawmakers. Learning about how the sentence for crack possession was so many times longer than coke possesion and that the drug war and related laws attacks foreign countries and their assets or harmless pot users sparked my interest.
Now this article explains to me how there are so many more factors and can be applied to more than just drug law. There are so many aspects of law today that make no sense or specifically help a single group more than others. It is just ridiculous.
This article shows evidence that the laws were structured to be racist and bias from the very beginning. Women were meant to be inferior, anyone who wasn't white wasn't equal and the first laws reflected that. There are still huge sections of law that are outdated and still prosecute these classes.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Critical Traditions in Law and Society Research
Susan S. Silbey;Austin Sarat
In this journal article the idea that "we have not done very well at promoting a sociology of the sociology of law" stood out the most for me. Since my father is a lawyer, I have seen first hand the ideas and morals that connect closely to law and how a lawyer must behave. The lawyers who have to defend druglords and rapists and murderers have to seperate themselves from their work. If the ideas from law and society were available to these lawyers during the time when they learn about law, they might second guess their work.
I also agree with this article in the sense that something has to be done. I mentioned to dad about this class Law and Society and he had no idea what that was. He explained to me how he never had that option in high school, college or law school when he was pursuing a degree in environmental law. All the classes were formal and designed around strict law and the "is what it is" mentality. I spoke to my dad about how this class was going to examine law from a completely different aspect. This article made me realize just that.
The lawyers of the old generation like my father need to be re taught how to look at law. The new generation and new thinking behind law should come up in more than just sociology standpoints. I find it imperative that the law and society movement needs to become more than critics, as Bloch suggested is where sociologists began.
Susan S. Silbey;Austin Sarat
In this journal article the idea that "we have not done very well at promoting a sociology of the sociology of law" stood out the most for me. Since my father is a lawyer, I have seen first hand the ideas and morals that connect closely to law and how a lawyer must behave. The lawyers who have to defend druglords and rapists and murderers have to seperate themselves from their work. If the ideas from law and society were available to these lawyers during the time when they learn about law, they might second guess their work.
I also agree with this article in the sense that something has to be done. I mentioned to dad about this class Law and Society and he had no idea what that was. He explained to me how he never had that option in high school, college or law school when he was pursuing a degree in environmental law. All the classes were formal and designed around strict law and the "is what it is" mentality. I spoke to my dad about how this class was going to examine law from a completely different aspect. This article made me realize just that.
The lawyers of the old generation like my father need to be re taught how to look at law. The new generation and new thinking behind law should come up in more than just sociology standpoints. I find it imperative that the law and society movement needs to become more than critics, as Bloch suggested is where sociologists began.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
