Posted: January 28th, 2017

In The Hollow Hope: Can Courts Bring About Social Change?, Gerald Rosenberg (1991) writes the following: American courts are not all powerful institutions

In The Hollow Hope: Can Courts Bring About Social Change?, Gerald Rosenberg (1991) writes the following: American courts are not all powerful institutions. They were designed with severe limitations and placed in a political system of divided powers. To ask them to produce significant social reform is to forget their history and ignore their constraints. It is to cloud our vision with a naive and romantic belief in the triumph of rights over politics. Do you agree with Rosenberg s statement? If so, what structures prevent the courts (and law) from performing as an effective tool for social change? How can these structures be modified so that law can be an effective means for addressing inequalities (or other problems) in our society? If you disagree with Rosenberg, please offer examples of the effectiveness of courts and law as tools for social change. How might these positive uses of the law be increased and/or become more effective? 400 words