Where has the community gone?

For this post we read Justice Without Law? by Jerold S. Auerbach

Seems like a better title for this book. I'd never thought about how true it is that where community ends law begins (pg 53). It does seem that so many people litigate against one another with no sense of the moral cost, rather the parties only think about the cold hard cash involved. As stated in the text by J Auerbach in the 17th and 18th century the ultimate punishment to a person was removal from the community (pg 56). Contemporary disputes have been funneled into a type of conflict resolution "without law" that is administered by the legal system and seems inherently tied to the judiciary. Gone are the days of neighborhood resolution bodies such as those referenced in New York City.




It is true, that where a community between parties does not exist law takes hold and rarely lets go. The heated legal battles over property or rights seen on television almost never show the two disputants to have any care for the other, save jealousy and hate. We live in a society now where a husband has sued his wife, children - parents, clergy - parishioner, and the government - itself! It’s a wonder that ECR has come about at all.



Based on my reflection of the book I have two questions to bring on Monday:



1. With the current lack of community in our society what does the future of ECR look like and how has it responded in the past to culture shifts?



2. How is ECR set up so that participants are not also held to suits from other parties involved in the ECR process? I could see the results of ECRs disputed in a court even after parties had agreed previously and this possibility seems unfair.