Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal Commentary Blogs -> Althouse

Legal Commentary

: Althouse

"Explicitly moral, obscenely didactic, showcasing a perversely distorted view of the American legal system..."

"... justice porn is a potent, ubiquitous presence in our lives.... justice porn constantly preaches doctrines of prudence, responsibility, and self-empowerment..."

That doesn't sound very porn-like. Why is Greg Beato analogizing TV judge shows to pornography? Is it like those fliers one occasionally still sees posted around campus that begin with -- in large print -- "SEX" and continue -- in small print -- "now that I have your attention"?

Beato's real point is that the TV judge shows teach people to think of their disputes as lawsuits, and he -- as befits his forum in Reason magazine -- doesn't like litigiousness.

Instead of making us more responsible citizens, more inclined to rely on our own good judgment rather than public institutions, justice porn popularizes the idea that the court system is a legitimate venue for mending friendships, punishing moral (but not criminal) transgressions, and seeking inspirational hugs from stern but caring authority figures. At the same time, it positions judges as unquestionable authorities with unlimited power to scrutinize our lives.

Fair enough. Good point. I'm just distracted by trying to think about how pornography does something like that? It seems to me that pornography teaches men to take care of their problems on their own.

Full post as published by Althouse on December 16, 2008 (boomark / email).