Perception Of Blind And Fair Justice - 1688 Words

Despite the appealing notion of blind and fair justice, many question the existence of this ideal in reality – and rightly so. Many of the challenges to law’s claim of impartiality concern the influence of social characteristics such as race or sex when they should be irrelevant. Marc Galanter introduces a more structural argument, related to the frequency with which one litigates, bringing disputes before a court. Galanter claims that those who regularly engage in similar litigation, whom he labels â€Å"repeat players† (RPs) have multiple advantages over â€Å"one-shotters† (OSs), who rarely enter the forum of law, where courts interpret and apply official rules to settle disputes, in their ability to achieve desired legal outcomes. The fact that†¦show more content†¦Though not all repeat players are necessarily society’s â€Å"haves† – some of the residents of the urban neighborhood studied by Sally Engle Merry are example s of exceptions – in American society, most are. One often thinks of â€Å"haves† and â€Å"have nots† in terms of material differences, but where Galanter adds the most value to the discussion of inequality is his explanation of the more dynamic advantages that come from more frequent legal engagement and which continually reinforce this inequality. Part of Galanter’s project in identifying the mechanism behind systematic biases in the courts is his desire to prescribe potential avenues for reform. It is not only important to recognize that the haves come out ahead but also why they do. Though he does discuss tangible differences in resources, including access to specialized knowledge, those factors alone can miss the less tangible benefits that certain parties enjoy. For example, due to their ongoing contact with the court, RPs uniquely have the opportunity to become more embedded in the community of legal actors and build social capital through these informal relationships. Though Eisenstein, Flemming, and Nardulli specifically study county criminal courts in their study, their observations of the unique cultures of court communities can extend to the forum of law more broadly. They note that membership in such a community allows for trust to be established and â€Å"credit† to be built. In the