Idea: National Museum of (American) Law

For all of us who live in the Washington DC area, the Smithsonian museums reflect the diverse range of things Americans think about. A walk through the area of town that houses the Smithsonian Museums is a walk through through a reflection of the greatest thoughts and triumphs of humankind. Included in the Smithsonian are museums dedicated to great art, history, and nature. I suspect that over the course of the many years that Americans have been traveling to Washington to explore the museums, those trips have inspired people to explore new fields and advance their own education.

To me, it is striking that there is no National Museum of American Law. Although law gets a mention in all the museums that cover American history, there is no museum where one can dedicate oneself to understanding the role of law in society as a whole, and American society specifically.

I write here to propose the establishment of a National Museum of (American) Law to advance the knowledge and appreciation among the general public of law itself, and American law specifically.

My most recent inspiration for this post came from my visit to the museum of Crime and Punishment. There, there visitor walks through world history of the adjudication and punishment of crime (and alleged crime), with panels specifically discussing those infamous criminals and crimes that are still the subjects of coversations among many Americans, like Al Capone. The attendees to that musuem walk away with a (albeit superficial) idea of the history of crime in the world and the history of how civilized society has addressed crime.

As law is not merely a subject of esoteric discussion, but a real aspect of all American lives, it is important that a museum of American law go beyond appreciating world history, or the history of American law. My vision would be that each attendee see their own potential for impacting American democracy, whether it be directly participating in town meetings or involvement in advocacy organizations at the local, state, or national levels. And frankly, history is full of stories where individuals of no particular stature make drastic effect on the law in the scope of speaking on behalf of his or her rights or business needs.

For instance, I imagine an exhibit where attendees are invited to consider the proper form of government for a theoretical new country, much as the founders of this nation had to do. In this exhibit, one would walk through the the basic forms of government that made up the ancient world, walking through world history. I imagine each panel could include an description of a form of government and examples of where that government was instituted, and an image of the kind of legislative issue that is unique to that government system. Perhaps a picture and a story reflecting how constitutional decisions were made. Other exhibits could focus more closely on ways in which common citizens engage with the law. Ways in which the law affects them at school, work, housing, community associational decisions, and even their engagement with religious institutions. Frankly, any subject matter that makes up a unit of study in a school of law is necessarily worthy of consideration in a museum of law because any subject of dispute in law derives from substantive disputes in society to which American can relate. Even the esoteric subject of intellectual property comes to life when one considers the musician who wishes to profit from his music or the painter who wants to negotiate with his boss for rights to the paintings he does while at work. Even the subject of international law comes alive when one considers their desire to sell his American made wares in a store in Canada. Other exhibits could consider the moral questions that serve as the source of law. Examples include classic questions of whether it is right to harm a few individuals for the good of the whole society (utilitarianism) and whether one has the right to city services like fire service if he or she doesn't pay required taxes. This last question is often asked as an esoteric question but became very real when on or around October 5, 2010, a family in Tennessee lost their home when the fire department refused to extinquish a fire in their home due to the fact that the family failed to pay their fire service fee. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20101005/pl_yblog_upshot/rural-tennessee-fire-sparks-conservative-ideological-debate. There may be numerous ethical stories like these that pose dynamic legal questions, and thus may be used to demonstrate the role of law in society. The ideas in this essay require more thought. However, I write this in hope to advance the dialogue of how best to engage all Americans in the legal world that affects them so. I further desire that any audience to such a museum be inspired to engage in their own study and investigation into the laws that affect them, and thus feel empowered to advocate for their alteration to the extent appropriate.

Lawyers: Are We Prepared to Practice and Serve (those in need)?

Earlier this month the American Bar Institute, the American Bar Association, and the Association for Continuing Legal Education published a final report from its October 2009 Critical Issues Summit entitled “Equipping Our Lawyers: Law School Education, Continuing Legal Education, and Legal Practice in the 21st Century.” It may be found at: http://www.equippingourlawyers.org/docs/final%20report.pdf. The purpose of the summit was for CLE professionals, law school deans and faculty members, law practitioners, bar leaders, judges, mandatory CLE administrators, and law firm educators to evaluate whether lawyers are provided the adequate resources necessary to address the legal needs of the society in which we work. Otherwise asked is the question of whether lawyers are adequately trained to address the legal needs of society. I was pleased to find that the final report contained a full section on increasing access, and the role of lawyers in making that happen. Specifically, it states that lawyers have a professional responsibility to serve the underserved, and to begin nurturing that obligation in law schools. Also important was that the report implored the local legal communities to collaborate to assist newly admitted lawyers to develop the skills that help them to provide effective legal services to underserved communities. This finding recognizes a crucial aspect of the disparity in legal assistance between wealthy communities and low-income communities. Wealthy individual and larger businesses are not getting better legal services solely because they have more money. It’s more complex. Because wealthy individuals have more money to spend on legal services, they create a marketplace. Thus, lawyers train themselves to develop expertise in the legal areas, not merely because they can serve wealthy individuals, but because they are more likely to have full time paying work if they specialize in areas where there are plenty of paying clients. For instance, lawyers can not develop a practice specializing in tenant rights or the rights to secure government services for low income persons unless they also know how to obtain grant money or a job with an organization knowledgeable at receiving grant money. Accordingly, because wealthy individuals and larger businesses can afford more legal attention, and thus provide a marketplace, law students and young lawyers are trained to meet that need. Thus, young lawyers find themselves without knowledge and training on areas of the law that affect low to moderate income people. Economists explain this phenomenon by the term “supply and demand.” Thus, focusing at the educational level assures that there is a supply of lawyers able to meet the demand for their legal services. It is worth noting another institutional aspect of the legal field that impacts why low to moderate income people are not usually served by the legal community. Law students are trained to, un-ideologically, serve their clients’ legal interests. They are trained to avoid, and in fact implored against, imparting their own values and ethics on their clients. Additionally, most professional responsibility curriculums discuss ethical advertising, but do not focus at all on using ethical considerations in determining which fields to service. In other words, for the most part, there is no place in the law school curriculum where the average student is asked to evaluate society’s legal services against society’s legal needs. In my experience and in the experiences of those with whom I have spoken, law school professors act as if it is a given that absent discrete pro bono obligations, one has responsibility towards their paying clients and has no professional obligation to lower their fee for those who cannot afford to pay a full fee. In other words, it is simply presumed that one works for those who pay, and one stops working when those who did pay, stop paying. Thus, law students often graduate without any sense that they have a professional responsibility to anyone other than the paying client. Therefore, the inclusion of training new and young lawyers, in the skills necessary to assist communities not being fully served, can drastically expand the options for service. It is a known fact that the legal community is not yet adequately addressing the legal needs of the larger community. In 2005, the Legal Services Corporation published a study, “Documenting the Justice Gap in America – the Current Unmet Civil Legal Needs of Low-Income Americans,” in which the Corporation reported that the Legal Services Corporation, due to needs and lack of resources, was turning away one eligible client for every one it helped. It also found that over 80% of the legal needs of low-income Americans were going unmet, as did the American Boar Association in a 1994 survey. The Legal Services Corporation survey found that the primary unmet legal needs fell in the following categories of topics: consumer, education, employment, family, juvenile, health, and housing. This problem is not limited to the poorest of households. In 1995, Mark D. Killian, in the Florida Bar News, wrote that 79.5% of all Florida households have no access to the legal system, noting that this is not limited to those individuals who are poor or moderate income. Many other states share similar problems, and have published their own statistics to prove it.

Some Inspiration for Law Day -- from India

This past Saturday (May 1) was "Law Day." Pursuant to 36 USC 113 (1958), the statute instituting law day, the purpose is to appreciate liberties and loyalty to the United States -- and "(1) rededication to the ideals of equality and justice under the law in their relations with each other and with other countries; and (2) for the cultivation of the respect for law that is so vital to the democratic way of life."

One can get an impression about a society’s ideals by looking at what events and holidays are commemorated or celebrated. Although the enforcement of Law Day does not come along with the kind of community activities and public programming that one may associate with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day or Christmas, the institution of the day and the repeated proclamations by a series of US Presidents, encouraging involvement in Law Day activities, indicate the extent to which our society’s goals include equality, justice, respect for the law, and a democratic way of life.

Law Day was instituted in 1958. President Eisenhower signed a proclamation that specified the day as a day to remember “with pride and vigilantly guard the great heritage of liberty, justice and equality under law which our forefathers bequeathed to us.”

He further proclaimed “it is our moral and civic obligation as free men and as Americans to preserve and strengthen that great heritage.” Although Law Day was signed into law, several presidents, including our most recent (Clinton, Bush, and Obama) have issued proclamations endorsing or repeating the ideas proclaimed by President Eisenhower.

The key to making Law Day meaningful is to determine how best to strengthen the heritage of our legal system, the ideals of equality and justice, and the democratic way of life. Most of the articles in this blog have leave me wondering “what can we do” about the problem of legal literacy and civic engagement. One can easily imagine the democratically and legally engaged society, but we rarely see activities today that advance the cause.

Like the United States, India is a large nation where many are unaware of their rights, and further unaware of how to act on them. Concerned about this, the bar associations in India have begun to create and endorse some very innovative ideas. These ideas inspire me that a change of course is very possible.

On April 28, 2010, the Times of India published an article “Legal Literacy Chariot Launched in Dharwad.” A similar article was published in The Hindu. The articles discuss a campaign to educate those in rural disconnected areas, about the legal system upon which they live. Rural Indians’ primary legal needs involve disputes over public utility services, proper policing, and social welfare.

Thus, the legal literacy chariot provides lectures to the people on these subjects, human rights, and consumer rights. As these programs are very new, we presume results are not yet available. Justice Elipe Dharma is quoted in another article stating that inaugurating a legal literacy and awareness camp in Chennai, India says that access to legal aid and legal advice is crucial to making effective legal institutions. India’s legal literacy push is not limited to poor rural communities.

In Haryna, between one thousand and 1500 schools and colleges have within them newly formed legal literacy clubs using creative educational techniques such as writing, poetry, and paintings. Many of these club members are trained to spot legal issues in their community and introduce those in need with legal aid. Additionally are instituted legal literacy camps to apprise women of their legal rights, such as protection from domestic violence and sexual harassment.

To me, the concept of advancing legal literacy clubs seems to me to be a great way to advance the culture of respect for the law and the democratic way of life.

The democratic way of life suffers most when citizens do not believe their problems can be resolved through established legal channels, or that they have no access to the powers-that-be to advance needed changes. With legal literacy clubs, a population of young people is empowered to identify legal needs and to educate those in need about potential legal remedies and options.

Furthermore, social contract theory teaches us that when those with legal problems are aware that legal resolutions are available and functional, they are far more likely to resort to safe and legal means than those like to cause great social harm, like those of gangs or the mafia.

From the news articles in The Hindu, I have the impression that the school-based legal literacy clubs were formed primarily to address the technical problem of outreach to those needing legal help. However, I suspect that the social benefits are incalculable. Although I can't speak for India, in many communities in the United States of America, teenagers face very little social pressure to do good, only to do bad and involve themselves in behavior that is harmful to themselves and others.

Thus, mere visions of ethics, morality and justice are left to compete with the immediate gratification available from other sources. Legal literacy clubs, on the other hand, if done correctly, would likely provide an opportunity for legal literacy to be “the cool thing to do,” creating social pressure to be part of a generation of youth who are far more likely to advance civic society and justice than create damage to it.