"May I take my fellow commentators out into a tour of the flooded swamp which the American legal system has become.
The “Public” has come to expect certain things of the legal system
and to consider that it exists in order to accomplish specific aims and
objectives, which include social political, economic and retributive
goals.
In the reactions to the results of any particular trials, civil or
criminal, there are always elements of disappointments and senses of
“failures” in the way the system works. As a result the system has been
slowly and steadily changing from its original aspects to one that
matches more closely public expectations. If one operation of the system
does not function as expected anticipations are that another will be
tried.
We have observed the evolution of Tort Law proceeding from concepts of negligence or violation of duty to absolute liability without fault.
The general “Public” expectation of the system is that damage or harm
done will be repaired or compensated or punished (people lost money
Bankers should go to jail!), however occurring. The objective of the
legal system now is to deal with any harm done.
Thus we will see the continued rise of the status of “victim” which implies the incidence of harm, damage or loss.
The American legal system is not immune from the changes in the various public and academic concepts of “Justice.” There is a rising concept that “Justice” is no longer derived from the rules of social order that constitute Law, but is rather some form of current public opinion that should shape the results of social order."
Samizdata commentator "RRS", at 9.33pm UK time on July 15th. I would question that last assertion of a "rising concept that justice is... some form of current public opinion", only on his use of the word "concept", since if justice is to be conceived as mere public opinion, then we are no longer talking about
concepts as such, but rather
anti-concepts. However, the replacement of a concept of justice with some form of public-opinion gibberish is a recognizable trend among the identity-gimps in the media, academia and in public office.
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