Law Shaped Our Culture

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Pages: 2

The law has profoundly shaped our culture. For example, according to Mezey (2001), the law reaches into our lives in its absence as much as in its presence. Affirmative laws create the rights of property owners. But the absence of law also creates rights of a sort. In the employment context, the absence of a federal law prohibiting employers from discriminating against people on the basis of sexual orientation means that where no local or state law dictates otherwise, law affirmatively gives employers permission to discriminate openly against gay, lesbian, or transgender employees, by refusing to grant such employees a remedy for discrimination. (p. 50)
However, culture also impacts law and many people in our country are fighting to change what they consider to be outdated laws on this issue.
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People are afraid of being sued. This fear of litigation has led us to become a nation full of legal notices and signage. Legalese is used by corporations, institutions, and so forth to protect themselves in the event of a lawsuit. Legalese requires the right mix of vagueness and precision if it is to offer proper protection in a court of law for the corporations, institutions, and so forth that use it. Christie (1964) explains that due
To the conflicting human inclinations of wanting to disobey lawful directives and yet at the same time of not wanting to implement directives considered unjust or unreasonable, language will often be the scapegoat. Where there appears to be no vagueness, vagueness and even ambiguity will be created; the slightest trace of vagueness will be exploited. Once vagueness has been found, one is free to choose the interpretation of which one approves. (pp.