Law and courts are commonly misunderstood through two half-true misconceptions.

Evidence

Misconceptions about law and the courts, as much as lack of information, may prevent a full understanding of the role of courts in the United States. Often these misconceptions are half-truths, capturing part, but only part, of the reality of law and courts. Two common misconceptions are that (1) law is a body of established rules that govern behavior and that (2) judicial decisions on important policy issues resolve those issues. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 181

Categorization

• SEED: The two-misconceptions framing could underpin a course essay or exam answer about how judges make rather than merely apply law.
• XREF: connects to: Common folk views of law overstate its certainty and finality — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 186; Legal reasoning about discrimination merely validates popular misconceptions — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 680

Broader Connections

• Common folk views of law overstate its certainty and finality #exemplifies (0.85) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 186
• Legal reasoning about discrimination merely validates popular misconceptions #exemplifies (0.78) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 680