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American Legal History and Culture in the 20 Century

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American Legal History and Culture in the 20 Century Rutgers University American Studies Harry Furman 01-050-300-80 [email protected] Spring 2012 American Legal History and Culture in the 20th Century “ Law is a lot more than words you put in a book, or judges or lawyers or sheriffs you hire to carry it out. It's everything people ever have found out about justice and what's right and wrong. It's the very conscience of humanity. There can't be any such thing as civilization unless people have a conscience, because if people touch God anywhere, where is it except through their conscience? And what is anybody's conscience except a little piece of the conscience of all men that ever lived? I guess that's all I've got to say except kiss the babies for me and God bless you…” - “The Ox -Bow Incident” (1943) "You know, so much of the time we are just lost. We say please, God, tell us what is right, tell us what is true. There is no justice. The rich win, the poor are powerless. We doubt ourselves, we doubt our beliefs. We doubt our institutions. And we doubt the law. " -Frank Galvin in "The Verdict” (1985) “Ben- Without the law, it’s all darkness. Judah- What good is the law if it prevents me from receiving justice?” - “Crimes and Misdemeanors” (1989) This course is a seminar of the law in American culture from the late 19th century to matters of the modern day. Our study of legal history and culture will span the Gilded Age, the Progressive Era, the “Roaring Twenties”, the Great Depression, the era of the “Good War”, the Cold War, the 1950s and 1960s right up to the most recent legal/cultural issues in American history. We will explore the intersection of law and culture through the prism of race, class, gender and faith as we examine what motivated key legal moments in our collective history. The “law” touches us in many ways and popular culture has reflected a fascination and awareness of the ubiquitous role of legal matters in everyday living. I will attempt to make our study of legal history and culture personal and relevant so that the study of the law in culture is compelling, interesting and even controversial. In a key sense, my goal is to demonstrate that the evolution of the law within American culture is vital to an understanding of history, the world in which we live and our own lives. Along the way, we will think about the law as framed in famous cases and trials as seen in history and in culture (through movies, comics, music, art and television from Perry Mason to Batman to Jack McCoy to The Good Wife) and how “the law” continues to capture public attention and controversy. In doing so, we will touch upon many legal issues that are part of the fabric of American life- personal liberty, law enforcement, the family (marriage, children), divorce), the workplace, sexuality, schools, artistic freedom, censorship and obscenity, national security, religion, race, cyberspace, property, commerce, immigration, civil and criminal sanctions (from the right to sue to capital punishment) and much more. Books Kermit L. Hall and John J. Patrick-The Pursuit of Justice- selections Lawrence M. Friedman- American Law in the 20th Century- selections David J. Bodenhamer- Our Rights- selections Supreme Court Case Studies- selections Elizabeth M. Smith-Pryor- Property Rites Jonathan Harr- A Civil Action ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION Classroom attendance is vital as we meet only 14 times. Attendance and promptness will be taken into account when determining your final grade. Participation in class is encouraged and expected. Although there will be, by necessity, a portion of most sessions that will involve lecture, there will be significant opportunity for discussion and debate. CONDUCT, ETIQUETE AND INTERNET CONTACT All opinions are valued and respected in class. I expect everyone to listen respectfully to others’ point of view and to take responsibility for meeting deadlines and being prepared for class. Bring to class a notebook and the materials that we will be dealing with during that week’s session to. The class includes a Sakai site that will serve as a center-point for materials in the class. Multiple film/music references are provided in Resources on Sakai for which only a few will be used in class. Most classes will involve a reading of multiple short selections and about 50 to 100 pages of reading per week as well as a viewing of at least several film shorts in anticipation of class discussion. Occasionally, there will be a request to provide a Blog entry of one’s own thoughts about an issue. I will be communicating with the class as a whole and with individual class members via Sakai. Everyone should have a functioning email address that will become part of that network. Email will be used to explain class assignments, provide a preview of issues to think about before or after class and a means of discussing matters that may affect your work in the course. As a matter of courtesy, I will expect you to let me know via email (or telephone) that you cannot attend a class. Email will also provide a means of turning in extra credit efforts- or the cancellation of class if there should be inclement weather (not unusual during the early weeks of the Spring session) GRADING: Class Attendance, Participation, Blog Entries (25%) Essay/Commentary- (25%) 1 Midterm- (25%) Final Exam- (25%) Intangibles- Extra credit will enhance your grade: Excessive absences or lates will result in penalization of your grade CLASS SCHEDULE: (subject to revision as needed) 1/18- Law Matters!-An Introduction to Themes in American Legal History and Culture What is “the rule of law”? In what ways are law and culture intertwined? Why is the Constitution central to study of American law and culture and why is there so much controversy about its meaning? What is meant by judicial review and judicial interpretation? How are law and lawyers viewed in popular culture? Why so many “lawyer jokes”? Read- Frank Kafka- Before The Law W.H. Auden- Law, Like Love Jill Lepore- The Commandments Bringing Bogie Out of the Courtroom Closet Judicial Intent; Two Views (all in R) View- Stephen Colbert- Spin, Judge Judy- excerpt, Lionel Hutz or A World Without Lawyers- from The Simpsons Begin reading Property Rites 1/25- Identifying the Issues: Law and Popular Culture in the Gilded Age and at the Dawn of Progressivism After review of the cases, in what way do these judicial opinions relate to matters of race, gender and labor and management in the late 19th and early 20th century and how do they reflect the ideas and beliefs central to the larger culture? On the basis of what legal concepts did the Courts make decisions? What kind of “America” exists at this time in history and how is that different from today? Read Hall- The Supreme Court as a Mirror of America- skim-Introduction- 5-11 Plessy .v Ferguson – 53-59 Lochner v. New York, Muller v. Oregon- 60-68 Read- Bradwell, Plessy, Lochner and Muller- Opinion excerpts (R) The Forgotten Murder Trial of Josephine Terranova (R) Read SCCS- The Slaughterhouse Cases, Civil Rights Cases, E.C. Knight v. U.S., In Re Debs, Northern Securities v. U.S.- 15-16, 19-20, 23-26. 29-30 View- A New Kind of Justice, The Slaughterhouse Cases, The Civil Rights Cases, Strauder v. West Virginia, Yick Wo and the Equal Protection Clause, Historic Cases- Plessy v. Ferguson, Workers Rights \ (Lochner) ( R) Continue reading Property Rites 2/1- Debating Free Speech and “Rights” in the Progressive Era and World War I What were the central legal concepts in the speech cases? When is speech not permitted in these cases? How does the Triangle fire influence the legal history and culture of the workplace? What social concerns are reflected in the Mann Act and what can we learn about the culture that created that law and its implantation? What cultural issues are reflected in the case of Leo Frank? Read Hall- Schenck v. United States, Abrams v. United States- 69-75 Read SCCS- Olmstead v. U.S.- 43-44 Read Schenck, Abrams and Hammer- Opinions- (R) “Murder Case and the “Leo Frank Lynching” Lives On” (R) “Without Sanctuary: Photographs and Postcards of Lynching in America” (R) “The Mann Act” (R) “Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Co. Factory Fire Legacy Under Threat” (R) Diving Into the History of the Income Tax (R) “The Rise and Fall of Prohibition” View- Workplace Safety and the Progressive Era, Unforgivable Blackness, Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, Prostitution and the Origins of the Mann Act, The Leo Frank Case, Senator Mike Lee- and Why Child Labor Laws Are Unconstitutional, Eric Foner on the Protection of Civil Liberties 1 +2 (R) Music- Billie Holiday- “Strange Fruit” (R) Continue reading Property Rites 2/8- Race Matters: Citizenship, Crime, Life and Death, and an American Tragedy in 1920s Culture In what way does the Rhinelander case reflect many of the key issues that in the 1920s? What is “passing” and why does is it a poignant reflection of American culture in the 20th century? What role do issues of identity, race, immigration, morality, religion and psychology play in the Rhinelander case and the other matters that are the subject of this week’s readings? Finish reading Property Rites- The book will be central to our discussion this week (Review the Guide to be posted in Resources) Read- Ozawa v U.S., U.S. v. Thind, Buck v. Bell- Opinion Excerpts “Justice Denied: The Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti” “The Scopes Trial” “Clarence Darrow: The Crime of Compulsion” “The Trial of Dr.
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