Legal Gridlock: A Critique of the American Legal System

Americans have always placed great faith in the rule of law. Today it may be too much. As the volume and complexity of legislation grows, as more behavior is criminalized and jails overfill, as the cost of litigation mounts and jury verdicts skyrocket, legal gridlock becomes a real prospect.

Public interest in the law is clearly growing. But the highly selective, frequently aberrant snapshots the public gets via the media often obscure what is really happening. Legal Gridlock examines the American legal system from top to bottom and suggests what is wrong and what might be changed to prevent cost and delay from strangling social and commercial progress. It critiques our system from a variety of perspectives, including: the form and function of government (originally designed in reaction to a remote and insensitive monarch); the proper role of courts and alternatives thereto; and the problems of law enforcement, legal training, and the legal profession.

Incessantly resorting to law to resolve all uncertainty and right every conceivable wrong is a recipe for gridlock. Too much law is as bad as too little. Other civilized nations get by with far less law than we do, and yet they are safe and secure. Are we worshipping a false god? Do our expectations simply exceed reality? There is a limit to the rule of law.

Legal Gridlock is balanced and non-technical. It is meant for the average reader who is concerned about the direction in which our legal and political system is headed. It warns of a serious crisis facing America.