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The 29th Annual Frankel Lecture, sponsored by the Houston Law Review at the University of Houston Law Center, focused on how the words that we use to address and refer to others influence our civil, political, and social lives. Professor Richard R. W. Brooks delivered the keynote lecture "Addressing Americans".Brooks is the Emilie M. Bullowa Professor of Law at the New York University School of Law and the Florence Rogatz Visiting Professor of Law and Senior Research Scholar in Law at Yale Law School. His scholarship focuses on contracts, agency, the analysis of behavior through the lens of law, economics and custom. His most recent book, Saving the Neighborhood: Racially Restrictive Covenants, Law, and Social Norms, examines the history and enduring legacy of racial covenants. He has also written articles addressing experimental economics, the economics of environment, law, fairness, and perceptions of the legal system.Brooks holds a BA from Cornell University, an MA from the University of California at Berkeley, a JD from The University of Chicago Law School, and a PhD in economics from the University of California at Berkeley.Commentators for the lecture are:Richard H. McAdams, Bernard D. Meltzer Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School and Helen Norton, University Distinguished Professor of Law and Rothgerber Chair in Constitutional Law at the University of Colorado School of Law.Key moments:00:00 - Introduction by Dean Leonard Baynes6:40 - Professor Richard R. W. Brooks38:35 - Richard H. McAdams55:58 - Helen Norton01:14:16 - Q&A for the SpeakersFor more on the Houston Law Review, please visit houstonlawreview.orgTwitter | @HoustonLRevInstagram | @HoustonLRevFacebook | @HoustonLRevLinkedIn | The Houston Law ReviewTo get a mailing or electronic subscription to the Houston Law Review click here. For more Emphasis Added content, follow us on Instagram and check out our video content on YouTube!
Allison Stashko talks about prosecutor elections and police accountability. “Prosecutor Elections and Police Killings” by Allison Stashko and Haritz Garro. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you for supporting our work! *** OTHER RESEARCH WE DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE: “Collective Bargaining Rights and Police Misconduct: Evidence from Florida” by Dhammika Dharmapala, Richard H. McAdams, and John Rappaport. “Preventing the Use of Deadly Force: The Relationship Between Police Agency Policies and Rates of Officer-Involved Gun Deaths” by Jay T. Jennings and Meghan E. Rubado. “Misdemeanor Prosecution” by Amanda Agan, Jennifer Doleac, and Anna Harvey. “Prosecutorial Reforms and Local Crime Rates” by Amanda Agan, Jennifer Doleac, and Anna Harvey. “Too Tough on Crime? The Impact of Prosecutor Politics on Incarceration” by Ashna Arora. “The Effect of DA Elections on Public Safety” by Dvir Yogev. [Working Paper available from the author]. “Does Prosecutor Partisanship Exacerbate the Racial Charging Gap? Evidence from District Attorneys in Three States” by Sidak Yntiso.
Jane, Dara, and Matt on what we know about police reform and its limits Resources: "Unbundle the Police" by Derek Thompson, The Atlantic "Why Are the Police in Charge of Road Safety?" by Alex Tabarrok, Marginal Revolution Collective Bargaining Rights and Police Misconduct: Evidence from Florida, by Dhammika Dharmapala, Richard H. McAdams, & John Rappaport, University of Chicago Reducing Racial Disparities in Crime Victimization, by Anna Harvey & Taylor Mattia, NYU The Impact of Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Policing by Bobcar Ba, Dean Knox, Jonathan Mummolo, & Roman Rivera Police Employment, Officers Per Capita Rates for U.S. Cities Glossary of Nonviolence A Force More Powerful Gandhi on Non-Violence Hosts: Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior Correspondent, Vox Jane Coaston (@cjane87), Senior politics correspondent, Vox Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration reporter, ProPublica Credits: Jeff Geld, (@jeff_geld), Editor and Producer The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts About Vox Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Follow Us: Vox.com Facebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. Richard H. McAdams, Bernard D. Meltzer Professor of Law and Aaron Director Research Scholar at the University of Chicago Law School, discusses his new book. When asked why people obey the law, legal scholars usually give two answers: Law deters illicit activities by specifying sanctions, and it possesses legitimate authority in the eyes of society. McAdams shifts the prism on this familiar question to offer another compelling explanation of how the law creates compliance: through its expressive power to coordinate our behavior and inform our beliefs. People seek order, and they sometimes obtain a mutually shared benefit when each expects the other to behave in accordance with law. Traffic regulations, for example, coordinate behavior by expressing an orderly means of driving. A traffic sign that tells one driver to yield to another creates expectations in the minds of both drivers and so allows each to avoid collision. McAdams generalizes from traffic to constitutional and international law and many other domains. In addition to its coordinating function, law expresses information. Legislation reveals something important about the risks of the behavior being regulated and social attitudes toward it. Anti-smoking laws, for example, signal both the lawmakers’ recognition of the health risks associated with smoking and the public’s general disapproval. This information causes individuals to update their beliefs and alter their behavior.
If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. Richard H. McAdams, Bernard D. Meltzer Professor of Law and Aaron Director Research Scholar at the University of Chicago Law School, discusses his new book. When asked why people obey the law, legal scholars usually give two answers: Law deters illicit activities by specifying sanctions, and it possesses legitimate authority in the eyes of society. McAdams shifts the prism on this familiar question to offer another compelling explanation of how the law creates compliance: through its expressive power to coordinate our behavior and inform our beliefs. People seek order, and they sometimes obtain a mutually shared benefit when each expects the other to behave in accordance with law. Traffic regulations, for example, coordinate behavior by expressing an orderly means of driving. A traffic sign that tells one driver to yield to another creates expectations in the minds of both drivers and so allows each to avoid collision. McAdams generalizes from traffic to constitutional and international law and many other domains. In addition to its coordinating function, law expresses information. Legislation reveals something important about the risks of the behavior being regulated and social attitudes toward it. Anti-smoking laws, for example, signal both the lawmakers’ recognition of the health risks associated with smoking and the public’s general disapproval. This information causes individuals to update their beliefs and alter their behavior.
Although people sometimes violate the law, there is more legal compliance than we can explain by ordinary economic theory – that legal sanctions deter noncompliance. In some domains of international law and constitutional law, there is no credible threat of legal sanctions, yet there is compliance. In some historic examples, “courts” lacking any sanctioning power resolved disputes arising in medieval Iceland, among 18th century pirates, and among 19th century gold-rushers. Professor McAdams explains these and other historic and contemporary examples of compliance by focusing attention on law's expressive power. First, legal expression provides a salient means of coordinating behavior. Second, law reveals information about risks and attitudes. These two expressive powers are distinct from law's coercive power. Richard H. McAdams is Bernard D. Meltzer Professor of Law and Aaron Director Research Scholar at the University of Chicago Law School. This talk was recorded on January 6, 2015, as part of the Chicago's Best Ideas lecture series.
Although people sometimes violate the law, there is more legal compliance than we can explain by ordinary economic theory – that legal sanctions deter noncompliance. In some domains of international law and constitutional law, there is no credible threat of legal sanctions, yet there is compliance. In some historic examples, “courts” lacking any sanctioning power resolved disputes arising in medieval Iceland, among 18th century pirates, and among 19th century gold-rushers. Professor McAdams explains these and other historic and contemporary examples of compliance by focusing attention on law's expressive power. First, legal expression provides a salient means of coordinating behavior. Second, law reveals information about risks and attitudes. These two expressive powers are distinct from law's coercive power. Richard H. McAdams is Bernard D. Meltzer Professor of Law and Aaron Director Research Scholar at the University of Chicago Law School. This talk was recorded on January 6, 2015, as part of the Chicago's Best Ideas lecture series.
How Should We Interpret our Constitutions? A Debate between Professors Baude and Harel Moderated by Professor McAdams William Baude is Neubauer Family Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School, where he teaches federal courts and constitutional law. His current research projects include papers on originalism, historical practice in constitutional law, federalism, the Supreme Court, and conflicts of law. His recent publications include "Rethinking the Federal Eminent Domain Power," and "Beyond DOMA: State Choice of Law in Federal Statutes." He also contributes to two legal blogs, the Volokh Conspiracy and SCOTUSBlog. Alon Harel is Mizock Professor of Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of Why Law Matters (2014) where he argues that (some) legal institutions and legal procedures are valuable and matter as such, irrespective of their instrumental value. His areas of expertise include legal and political theory, criminal law theory, constitutional law theory, human rights, and law and economics. Richard H. McAdams is the Bernard D. Meltzer Professor of Law and Aaron Director Research Scholar. He writes on criminal law and procedure, social norms, the expressive function of law, inequality, and law and literature. He is co-editor of the 2013 volume on Fairness in Law and Economics and the author of the forthcoming book, The Expressive Powers of Law. He has served as a member of the National Science Foundation Advisory Panel for Law & Social Sciences, the editorial board of the Annual Review of Law and Social Science, and the Board of Directors of the American Law and Economics Association. This event was sponsored by the American Constitution Society and the Federalist Society and was recorded on November 25, 2014.
How Should We Interpret our Constitutions? A Debate between Professors Baude and Harel Moderated by Professor McAdams William Baude is Neubauer Family Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School, where he teaches federal courts and constitutional law. His current research projects include papers on originalism, historical practice in constitutional law, federalism, the Supreme Court, and conflicts of law. His recent publications include "Rethinking the Federal Eminent Domain Power," and "Beyond DOMA: State Choice of Law in Federal Statutes." He also contributes to two legal blogs, the Volokh Conspiracy and SCOTUSBlog. Alon Harel is Mizock Professor of Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of Why Law Matters (2014) where he argues that (some) legal institutions and legal procedures are valuable and matter as such, irrespective of their instrumental value. His areas of expertise include legal and political theory, criminal law theory, constitutional law theory, human rights, and law and economics. Richard H. McAdams is the Bernard D. Meltzer Professor of Law and Aaron Director Research Scholar. He writes on criminal law and procedure, social norms, the expressive function of law, inequality, and law and literature. He is co-editor of the 2013 volume on Fairness in Law and Economics and the author of the forthcoming book, The Expressive Powers of Law. He has served as a member of the National Science Foundation Advisory Panel for Law & Social Sciences, the editorial board of the Annual Review of Law and Social Science, and the Board of Directors of the American Law and Economics Association. This event was sponsored by the American Constitution Society and the Federalist Society and was recorded on November 25, 2014.