Distorting the law : politics, media, and the litigation crisis / William Haltom and Michael McCann.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Haltom, William.

Contributor:

McCann, Michael W., 1952-

Series:

Chicago series in law and society.

The Chicago series in law and society

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Actions and defenses--Press coverage--United States.

Actions and defenses.

Torts--Press coverage--United States.

Torts.

Law in mass media.

Law--Political aspects.

Law.

Sociological jurisprudence.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (361 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, c2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In recent years, stories of reckless lawyers and greedy citizens have given the legal system, and victims in general, a bad name. Many Americans have come to believe that we live in the land of the litigious, where frivolous lawsuits and absurdly high settlements reign. Scholars have argued for years that this common view of the depraved ruin of our civil legal system is a myth, but their research and statistics rarely make the news. William Haltom and Michael McCann here persuasively show how popularized distorted understandings of tort litigation (or tort tales) have been perpetuated by the mass media and reform proponents. Distorting the Law lays bare how media coverage has sensationalized lawsuits and sympathetically portrayed corporate interests, supporting big business and reinforcing negative stereotypes of law practices. Based on extensive interviews, nearly two decades of newspaper coverage, and in-depth studies of the McDonald's coffee case and tobacco litigation, Distorting the Law offers a compelling analysis of the presumed litigation crisis, the campaign for tort law reform, and the crucial role the media play in this process.

Contents:

The social production of legal knowledge

Pop torts : tales of legal degeneration and moral regeneration

In retort : narratives versus numbers

ATLA shrugged : plaintiffs' lawyers play defense

Full tort press : media coverage of civil litigation

Java jive : genealogy of a juridical icon

Smoke signals from the tobacco wars

Law through the looking glass of mass politics.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [307]-327) and index.

ISBN:

9786612426582

9781282426580

1282426583

9780226314693

0226314693

OCLC:

474981234