Book Review

Canada and the United States

Lawrence M. Friedman sets out an ambitious agenda: to tell the "story of what happened to American law and the American legal system in the century just past; and why it happened as it did" (p. ix). In the book's introduction, Friedman points to some general themes: the rise of the welfare regulatory state and the power of judicial review, the shift of power to Washington, D.C., the emergence of the "imperial" presidency, the explosion of "law" and the legal profession, and the globalization of American power (pp. 3–7). Friedman's deeper goal, however, is to explain the complex relationship between American law and the social and cultural milieu within which it is embedded, and from which it draws meaning. Law, Friedman tells us, has "no firm, tight, visible boundaries, and ... social context, and social meaning, are at the heart of the way it lives, breathes, and moves" (p. x). His book attempts to map this complex terrain.	1
Friedman divides his analysis into three periods: 1900–1932; 1932–1980; and 1980–2000. In part one, "The Old Order," Friedman sketches a time when the American legal profession was elite, white, and male. States and local governments were the primary source of law and regulatory control. Legal procedure was chaotic and antiquated. Criminal law reflected old-fashioned Victorian morality. The U.S. Supreme Court was mired in Lochnerism and Social Darwinism. On the whole, law was parochial, conservative, and oppressive of minorities and dissent.	2
In part two, "The New Deal and Its Successors," Friedman describes the revolution in American law following the 1930s. The welfare state emerged, economic regulation became ubiquitous, and these required the growth of a massive administrative bureaucracy. Criminal justice was modernized, shedding its Victorian morality, and rights were nationalized under the doctrine of incorporation. Governmental power in general became centralized, as politics shifted out of state capitals and into Washington, D.C. Within the federal government, power also became more centralized in the presidency. Politics became more personalized as well, as radio and television turned politicians into celebrities.	3
Friedman's argument in this section is that the sweeping changes to the American legal system following the New Deal were mostly the reflections, rather than the causes, of broader transformations in American society and culture. Take the American love affair with the automobile, for example. Not only did the car dramatically affect the mobility of Americans, but it brought about dramatic changes in law and legal institutions. Reams of new traffic laws led to the creation of a whole new level of courts to deal with traffic-related infractions (the most common interaction most Americans have with the legal system). Millions of traffic accidents gave rise to thousands of lawsuits. This, in turn, led to the growth of an auto insurance industry, as well as safety laws and regulations at both the state and federal level. And, of course, cars produced air pollution, which also needed to be controlled by law and lawyers (pp. 549–55).	. . .