A Second Shot for the “Have-Nots”:
A Study of Galanter's Normative Solutions to Judicial Inequality in Modern Welfare Reform
Introduction:
The relationship between the Judiciary and the poor is one stained by false promises and stagnate action. In his empirical study of the legal system and it's distribution of benefits, both in quantitative economic terms and in intangible gains, to players with varied legal resources titled “Why the 'Haves' Come out Ahead”, Marc Galanter presents a realistic model of the judicial system and it's preferential treatment to those with more legal capital. A descriptive model of the current judiciary is presented followed by an normative ideal model of what we ought to do to even the legal playing field,
…show more content…
His main finding is the transformative identity of the legal environment from knowledge limited to a group of narrow elite to a more wide-ranged and accessible field of study (Epp, 1093). The recent explosion in the lawyer population has resulted in a demystified and accessible state of legal resources and knowledge.
Improvement of strategic position of have-not parties: Galanter's main point with the addition of this reform was to revolutionize the strategic position of OS's to that of RP's through the use of aggregate action facilitated by the use of interest groups. This aggregation provides OS's with the financial, political and experiential advantage of RP's in order to even the playing field. This will be very important in the cases of Sáenz v. Roe and David C. v. Huntsman which we will elaborate more on below.
OS's and the Supreme
…show more content…
Roe (1999) is a case that benefits from the realization of many of the ideal reforms set forth by Galanter's model, but also one that displays the historic difficulty in creating social change on the front of welfare reform through use of the Supreme Court. The case was brought to court by a welfare recipient, who upon moving to California was limited in her welfare benefits to a level that equaled that of the State she had formally resided in. This was enacted under a California provision to TANF that required a person to reside in the state for a year before receiving full welfare benefits. California, having a much higher cost of living than other states, made the level of benefits she was receiving under the conditional residency requirements unacceptable. The welfare recipient challenged the constitutionality of the California provision and the court ruled that such provisions violated the 14th amendment's implied “right to travel” under the privileges and immunities
...hat of how to apply law effectively. Now, I’m able to participate in casual conversations about sports, but I’m more interested in conversing about the structures of free agency, labor-related issues and the drafting and negotiation of contracts.
Wasserstrom considers a few options with in his discussion concerning a multitude of aspects faced by lawyers. "The lawyer's situation is different from that of other professionals. The lawyer is vulnerable to some moral criticism that does not as readily or as easily attach to any other professional." Thi...
O?Beirne, Kate. ?The State of Welfare: An old and tricky question resurfaces.? National Review 54.2 (February 11, 2002): 1--2. Online. Information Access Expanded
Trattner, W. I. (1999). From poor law to welfare state: a history of social welfare in America. New York: The Free Press, c1999. Pp 51-57
“In our daily lives, law affects how we behave or do not behave and possibly some of what we think, and it also governs many aspects of our lives.” (Barkan, 2009) Our legal system is what keeps our country cohesive and running. To evaluate the legal system and how it deals with the numerous things that go through it, one of the four major assumptions of law, its functions and dysfunctions and finally, how the law is defined. One could say that the legal system is corrupt and favors the elites.
Abadinsky, Howard. Law and Justice: An Introduction to the American Legal System. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.
Throughout modern civilization, the American republic is widely known for its dependency upon the realm of business. Equally as vital, looms the ever-present hand of the American law system. “All beings have their laws: the Deity…man his laws” (Montesquieu,1), this statement serves true in founding that law is consistently a necessary portion in society because all society desires law. As a consequence of the continual presence of law, careers aimed to interpret the crevices of laws, and to defend them, are synonymously as necessary in society. Absolutely, the gain of America’s economy is a direct reflection of the lawyers who protect them. Lawyers are a necessity to the nation; serving their purpose as defenders of the law. The system of corporate law is undoubtedly the cornerstone of corporate finance, and as citizens begin to thrive more immensely in a capitalistic nation, legal representation will be the trailblazer to the continuation of the American system of corporations. As I embark upon the journey of excellence into the world of corporate law, I endeavor to change the way business is defended, upheld, and represented.
Although the legal profession is a single discourse community, it is made up of many smaller discourse communities. This is so because while all lawyers share the same broad goals of the legal profession and have a general knowledge and expertise in all areas of the law, most lawyers after graduating from law school and passing the bar exam specialize in a particular area of law. This specialization requires the lawyer to go beyond the broad concepts of law as a whole and to become knowledgeable and proficient in the sometimes minute details of a more specific area of law. Even then, some lawyers will go even further to focus on one aspect or another of that particular area of law. This results in most lawyers being members of many even smal...
When I first started to write about general welfare, I at first thought it might be a two, three maybe four part article, but it eventually morphed into TEN and now eleven parts, and I still did not cover all that I wanted to. I was however was able to cover the various arguments and circumstances surrounding the term “general welfare” in many respects. Throughout the discussion we have covered some of its first origins and uses, how it came to be part of the Constitution, and the debates about it after the Convention finished, and leading up to when the Supreme Court started to hear arguments over it [which is another entire discussion in itself]. The focus here has not been what Supreme Court has thought of the term in Article I Section 8 Clause 1, but how others thought of it before and shortly after it even became law. Why was it used, and what was its pedigree to those who decided to put it in the Constitution, and how it was viewed by those who ratified it.
The court and the jury cannot be the guardians of law and are unable to guarantee justice, unless there is a lawyer who is the face of the truth, interprets the law through actions and words and manifests the voice of ordinary people. Law and justice are of supreme importance in any country despite of the country’s economic level. If there is no justice, fairness and rule of law there will be many problems in all aspects of life. Thus, there is a necessity to establish fair justice and for this very reason, there are the legal representatives: the lawyers. A lawyer stands for a justice more than the judge or the jury. Perfect examples of this are the following movies: “Twelve Angry Men”,
The complexity of law fascinates me. Law has changed throughout time and continues to vastly affect our everyday lives, whether we grasp it or not. We live in a world of very diverse cultures and backgrounds in which I am greatly intrigued by how law moves amongst. As I have realised this, my keenness to study the subject has grown. I wish to learn in depth, the structures, ways and reasons in which these are enforced throughout the different modules.
The judicial court system aims to achieve justice by upholding the ‘rule of law’, in which everyone is ‘subject to the law and can rely on the law to set the bounds within which other people and governments can operate.’ However, the rule of law does not always work to prevent all injustice, and lawyers should be actively involved in developing and maintaining the rule of law to establish a civil society which can be the foundation of justice for all. This is achieved through the professional identity legal personnel establish, demonstrating the importance of professionalism and resilience in the pursuit of justice and prevention of arbitrary abuse of power. This is observed in the comparison of the different courts and their operation to uphold the rule of law.
Legal Profession has its roots established under the British rule in India. It all started from concept of “Vakils” who worked under the Hindu and Muslim Law to the modern concept of lawyers in India. Legal profession is one such profession which can change the fate of any nation and from being a mediocre and low prestige profession, it has grown in leaps and bounds throughout the history and now has carved out a niche for itself. The legal profession
The objectives of this journal are; to describe the increase in the cost of American legal education over the past four decades, to explain some of the most important factors that have driven that increase, explore what consequences this increased cost as has had for recent law graduates and current law students, in the context of changing employment market for law school graduates and then finally, consider what sort of immediate and long term challenges are likely to take place a...
Legal awareness is the empowerment of individuals with respect to the issues of the law of the land. It helps promote consciousness of the legal culture and overall participation in the formulation and establishment of the laws as a whole. The term public legal education encompass an array of activities with an aim to develop public awareness and skills pertaining to the law and justice system as a whole. The term also refers to the fields of study and practice in association with those activities and a greater professional and social movement advocating the greater societal commitment to educating people about law. It is primarily aimed at people not generally involved in the course of law i.e. people who are not lawyers or students of law.