The Law of the Land: The Evolution of Our Legal System

by Charles Rembar and Rembar

Book Overview

National Book Award Finalist: "A learned, thoughtful, witty legal history for the layman" (The New Yorker).What do the thoughts of a ravenous tiger have to do with the evolution of America's legal... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671243225
• ISBN13: 9780671243227
• Release Date: May 1980
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 447 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Essays on Legal History

Charles Rembar is the lawyer who successfully defended the publication of books that had been called obscene. He later wrote a book on these trials which won acclaim in New York and London. This book traces the growth of our legal system since Medieval times and contrasts it to the Civil Law used in Europe and other countries. The jury trial and cross-examination of witnesses are the prime differences of our Common Law. This book is divided into subjects, it does not proceed in historical order. It can be entertaining and educational, but often seems tedious. Rembar points out how the legal system has evolved over the centuries, things that are taken for granted today may only be one or two centuries old. Rembar tells of change but not always their causes. Surely the Black Death of the 14th century must have had an effect on the laws? Before the Civil War only those corporations that served a public utility (water supplies, canals, and railroads) were given the privilege of limited liability. Afterwards this privilege was extended to companies and damaged many small businesses. Who can calculate the damage this caused to our republic (increased corruption, ruin of small businesses, a cycle of recessions and depressions, a grossly unequal distribution of wealth, etc.)? The main function of the corporate media is to fool most of the people most of the time (p.316). Gerry Spence has pointed out how a trial lawyer is the common person's sole champion against the injuries of corporations. The corporate media attacks lawyers with stories designed to demean and deride lawyers (but not the corporate lawyers). One such attack is to argue against contingency fees, which would prevent many people from recovering damages for any personal injury. Who would benefit from that? You can't depend on good will or laws unless someone has an interest in enforcing the laws (class action suits). The chapters on "Evidence" and "The Rights of the Accused" seem like the most relevant to a general audience. Money talks, a wealthy defendant is more likely to be acquitted than a poor defendant (p.386). Rembar's skills are shown in the affidavit of Norman Mailer (pp.370-375). Note the vague definition of "reasonable doubt: (p.370)! Can anyone "prove innocence" (p.387)? The 21st Amendment was rapidly passed because the Big Corporations who passed the 18th Amendment acknowledged their mistake (p.394). The Fifth Amendment privilege was used in the 1880s by John D. Rockefeller to avoid state investigations (p.397). It basically forbids torture to get a suspect to confess. The purpose of the Second Amendment is for "the security of a free state" (p.399). The people and the courts ("Miller vs. US") have said it is a popular right. Rembar is wrong in his untraditional interpretation. The Third Amendment prevents political oppression by any invasion of privacy. Rembar overlooks the role of the corporate aristocracy in buying Senate seats so they could appoint Federal judges, then

Superlative and engaging history of the legal system!

Mr. Rembar has created, if you can believe it, an engaging history of the Anglo-American legal system. He has done a superlative job of making the development of writs and other legal tools of the legal system we know today into a highly readable text which will appeal to those outside of the profession, as well as to practitioners. Using the last known duel to occur in the United States, Mr. Rembar develops the concept of trial by battle into an explication of how our legal system came to be as it is. He shows how and why this archaic legal concept has fallen into disfavor and explains why the paradigm shifts have occured. His use of the reign of Henry II of England as an exemplar of legal innovation is entralling and gives a new insight into the lives and processes that stood at the inception of our law courts and all their minions. This book is currently my top recommendation to anyone who reads history for pleasure.

A fascinating allegory of western legal systems

Attorney Rembar is the counsel who successfully defended (mildly erotic by today's standards) literature before the Supreme Court. This work is a fascinating study of the history of law and a fine advocate's perspective of the western legal tradition from its British origins through modern statutory and regulatory systems. The book opens with a man eaten by a tiger. Rembar then uses a Zen-like analysis of the man and tiger as the introduction to his unique perspective on the evolution and application of the law. A fine, fine effort from the author of The Death of Obscenity.