Law 101: Everything You Need to Know About American Law, 3d ed

Abstract

Law 101: Everything You Need to Know About American Law, Third Edition. By Jay M. Feinman. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Pp, xii, 363. ISBN: 978‐0‐19‐539513‐6. US$27.95.

Law 101 is an engaging work that informs and challenges the reader to question and evaluate legal process and theory, judicial opinions and society itself. At the end, the reader is left with a deeper understanding of the law as a living organism developed through a fine balancing of competing needs and interests. The goal of the book is to demystify the law and prepare the reader to make better judgments about what the law should be. For those readers trained in the law, reading Law 101 is an afternoon spent silently reminiscing (and maybe gently chuckling) with old friends such as Marbury, Palsgraf, Griswold, Yoder and International Shoe and with those about whom we still remain in awe: Marshall, Brennan, Blackmun, Cardozo, Hand, O’Connor, Kennedy and so many others. For other readers, it is an opportunity to expand his or her knowledge of the law and to develop an understanding of the political, social and historical influences that make it complex and subtle. In the end, the readers of Law 101 will be better educated about the U.S. legal system and able to understand the nuances and forces behind such actions as the U.S. Supreme Court’s reduction of Exxon’s punitive damages for the Valdez oil spill or the inability of communities to prevent protests by Fred Phelps and members of the Westboro Baptist Church at military funerals.