Legal Norms and the Individual

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how many legal scholars have observed that the law does not actually define what a person may do or not do; rather, it describes what remedies and penalties flow as consequences of one's behavior. It shows how, in matters of civil law, contracts do not prevent one from acting in violation of explicit agreements; they merely prescribe remedies, usually monetary, that the courts may enforce against one for breaching a contract and compensation for parties wronged by a breach. It also demonstrates how, likewise in the realm of criminal law, statutes do not prevent any criminal acts or behavior; they merely define what monetary penalties or potential terms of incarceration result from violating criminal statutes.

Outline
Introduction
Criminal Law
Civil Law
Equal Rights

From the Paper:

"Perhaps no better example exists of the degree to which criminal laws and their evolution affect the everyday lives of ordinary people than the American experience with Alcohol Prohibition early in the twentieth century. In 1920, the Eighteenth Amendment outlawed the manufacture, sale, possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages. Millions of Americans whose consumption of alcohol had been perfectly legal prior to its enactment became instant criminals when the
amendment passed into national law because they refused to comply with the laws of Prohibition (4)."

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