Crises drive reactive lawmaking while slow social shifts shape law durably
Evidence
Every crisis and incident in American history leaves its mark, and will continue to leave its mark, on the legal system, as well as on society. The collapse of the Enron Corporation, the savings and loan scandal: these led to calls for more laws, new laws, and changes in old laws. The financial debacle of 2008 led to another cycle of demand. The government poured out billions by way of bailout and subsidy. Scandals, tragedies, and incidents reverberate in the legal system. But even more important, as we said, are and will be the slow, hidden, invisible, underground movements that in the long run shape and mold society and the legal order inside society. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 4406
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Fragmented U.S. lawmaking institutions structurally favor slow incremental change over sweeping reform — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 170; Legal systems change in response to social and technological shifts — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 118; Moral panics can reshape law and social policy (+4 more)
Broader Connections
- Moral panics can reshape law and social policy
#exemplifies(0.80) - Slow legal process lets contested practices settle into ordinary acceptance
#corroborates(0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 440 - Authoritarian measures can persist within nominally democratic structures via normalized crisis
#exemplifies(0.80) — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, 7 - The common law adapts to social and economic change
#corroborates(0.75) — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 1311 - Inductive reasoning allows the law to adapt to changing societal times.
#qualifies(0.75) — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 613