Maybe its my background in sociology as a sociology major, just my personality or the fact that I'm in Stetson's social justice concentration, but one thing that has shocked me about law school and the legal profession in general is the lack of justice that is really talked about, or discussed in a moral, social or philosophical sense. I don't know if law or being in law desensitizes people or lawyers, but it really shocked me about how many things we read in casebooks that were just kind of looked over. No one really expresses much discontent with the law in the classroom, nor did I until I got more confidence and skilled in using my voice in the classroom. Classes for my social justice concentration helped that too, when I found more like minded people (its hard in your first year classes, because its so big and less room for discussion in seminar style classes). I understand peoples motivation differs, and justice looks different for people depending on their background, personal viewpoints and own confidence to speak up, but I do believe law students and lawyers should all have some sense of justice, some moral compass, or what are we really here for? I don't believe there is anything wrong with critiquing the law, it is a democracy and I think we should have these discussions in order to improve it. Also being a history minor and having a particular focus on the 1960's and the civil rights movement, it gives me a deeper perspective on why we should be critical about laws. Take the book "State Laws on Race and Color". This book set out all the segregation laws that had practically ever existed in the US. This book really gives you an idea on how much racism and segregation were integrated into the law. This book also acted as Thurgood Marshall's and other civil rights lawyers playbook on each segregation law and how they were going to overturn it. These laws were "good law" not even that long ago. Just because a law is "good law" doesn't mean it is a GOOD law. This is not a cry to go break the laws (although sometimes this necessary, ie. sit ins), but a request that we as law students and future lawyers to look deeper, to feel deeper and realize what certain laws really mean for our country. This can mean educating yourself on censorship bills, which are being passed left and right, especially in our State of Florida, which has inspired many other states censorship bills. We also must look beyond the words of these bills, and see the impact. This is happening RIGHT NOW. For some stats, between July 1st, 2021 and March 31st, 2022, eighty-six school districts conducted investigation of school books which resulted in 1,586 individual book titles being banned across the nation, with Texas and Florida taking the lead. In 2022, censorship bills applying to public education increased by 250% compared to 2021. Thirty-six states introduced 137 censorship bills in 2022, compared to only twenty-two states proposing 54 censorship bills in 2021. Florida Department of Education rejected fifty-four of 132 math textbooks to be used in 2023 because they claimed it referenced “critical race theory” by including graphs related to racial prejudice by age and political leaning. And these numbers continue to rise in 2023 and 2024. What I am trying to say here is that theres a lot going on around us in the legal world and these laws have real effects. Although the law school bubble is real, I encourage everyone to keep engaged in the state of laws around us. I believe this is part of our duty as servants of the law, regardless of your beliefs, to keep educated and active in our communities. Having a law degree (and a law license) are powerful tools, and the world could us them at a time like this.
Source for statistics: Jonathan Friedman & Nadine Farid, Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools, PEN America (Sep. 19, 2022), https://pen.org/report/banned-usa-growing-movement-to-censor-books-in-schools/.
Jessica,
ReplyDeleteThis is such an interesting perspective that I had not considered before. I definitely think it is sometimes difficult in law school to have the confidence to use our voice in the classroom especially relating to sensitive or controversial issues. I have on many occasions bit my tongue as it is sometimes difficult to address these issues in a class setting. The focus in many classes on solely what the law says often leaves out the laws implications and thus leaves out important moral or social justice perspectives. I think it's wonderful that the social justice concentration has allowed you to be confident in using your voice in the classroom and find other students with similar interests and perspectives. The Florida censorship bills are extremely concerning and reading your blog made me realize how little they have been discussed at least in the classes I have taken. I totally agree that having a law degree is very powerful and we as young future attorneys will very soon have the ability to influence these laws in a positive way.
Back in 2012, I was lucky enough to have Dean Robb speak to my law practice management class at Stetson. He was the famed 1960's civil rights lawyer I mentioned in class who in his later years was reprimanded for overdrawing his client trust account because he paid a parking ticket from the wrong checkbook. When the 60's ended and Dean moved on to PI and products liability cases, he never lost his commitment to doing justice. He continued to take pro bono civil rights cases. He hated state laws that discriminated based on race, ethicity, sex, religion, and other characteristics. He and I discussed how Nazi Germany in the 30's wanted to model its anti-Semitic laws targeting Jews on the "race codes" of the American South. After studying our laws, the Nazis found them too irrational, oppressive, and draconian. It was a sad time in our history that haunts us to this day.
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica, I really enjoyed reading about your perspective on how difficult subject matter is (or isn't) fully discussed and can be glossed over in law school, especially since we had Criminal law together which is where a lot of this difficult topics come up. From my personal experience, I remember having so much anxiety and stress over the cold calling method that I was really not even focusing on the the subject matter or even the words I or my peers were saying. Of course, looking back now (and caring less about how I do on cold calls), I wish that I would have been able to ask those difficult questions and initiate those discussions in class. I also really like your point about staying informed on current major legislative decisions that are being made. Unfortunately, I myself can admit to not being super knowledgeable about local, city, or state-wide ordinances and laws etc. that directly impact me. I've found that the classes which encourage more student led discussion bring up these relevant topics way more than the traditional format we have. Its definitely important and I'd like to see a change in how much its discussed moving forward.
ReplyDelete