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33 Minn. L. Rev. 455 (1948-1949)
Issue 5

handle is hein.journals/mnlr33 and id is 461 raw text is: MINNESOTA LAW REVIEW Journal of the State Bar Association VOLUME 33 APRIL, 1949 No. 5 JURIMETRICS The Next Step Forward LEE LOEVINGER* T IS ONE of the greatest anomalies of modem tames that the law, which exists as a public guide to conduct, has become such a recondite mystery that it is incomprehensible to the pub- lic and scarcely intelligible to its own votaries. The rules which are supposed to be the guides to action of men living in society have become the secret cult of a group of priestly professionals. The mystic ritual of this cult is announced to the public, if at all, only in a bewildering jargon. Daily the law becomes more complex, citizens become more confused, and society becomes less cohesive. Of course, people do not respect that which they can neither understand nor see in effective operation. So the lawmongers bemoan the lack of respect for law. Now the lawyers are even bewailing the lack of respect for lawyers. Many remedies are proposed Wre must have better law en- forcement-that is, more policemen to make the people obey the laws they do not understand. We must have a great moral renascence-presumably some sort of mystical process which will enable people intuitively to apprehend the mysteries of law. We need better education---catch 'em young, and teach them to re- spect the law while they're still credulous and uncritical. We ought to pass a new law to make people respect the old laws- ignorance of the law is no excuse, even for lawyers. We need better public relations between the lawyers and the public- which simply means that the lawyers want to advertise like everybody else. There is a school of support for every proposal except the one that it is the law itself which needs to be changed. Copyright, 1949, by Lee Loevinger, Minneapolis Minnesota. *Member of the Minnesota Bar.

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