Name:            Elizabeth Volk

School:          Staten Island Technical High School, Staten Island, NY

Teacher:        Mrs. Leonforte

How Can We Improve Respect for Law?

The United States of America is known as a safe haven from repression, discrimination, and the denial of civil liberties. The country’s democratic nature, however, cannot survive without the legal system—an institution implemented, with the consent of the governed, to secure unalienable rights such as “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. While all citizens enjoy the same protections guaranteed by the Constitution, few fully comprehend, appreciate, or respect the law.

The increase in adversarial journalism has had a disparaging effect on the public perception of law and its dedicated agents. While the media’s employment of such journalism can elucidate corruption within the legal system, it can also shape public perception. The media often seeks to bank on the entertainment value of conflict by sensationalizing news and taking investigative reporting to a whole new level of attack. Such adversarial reporting has contributed to popular cynicism, skepticism, and mistrust of law enforcement.

Although it can often criticize the law, the media also serves as a prime example of an institution that directly depends on the civil liberties guaranteed by the Constitution.  The freedom to speak one’s mind is one of the values greatly cherished by the media and used most often to defend the legality of highly critical editorial opinions and commentaries. This paradox elucidates the extent to which individual freedoms and civil rights are protected under the Constitution, the supreme law of the land.  Thus, in order to ensure and increase respect for the law, it is important that the media, often the most pertinent source of information for the general public, increases coverage of the legal agents that consistently deter crime and ensure justice for all.

In order to increase the public’s respect for law and simultaneously decrease its reliance on the media, education reform is necessary. The youth should be educated from an early age about the law so they can fully understand the ways in which legislation is written, enacted, and enforced. Furthermore, children of various ages should be encouraged to participate in internship programs and extracurricular activities that would allow them to experience the legal process firsthand. Conversely, law enforcement and law enactment agencies should make such opportunities available to youth by instating or sponsoring appropriate programs. Schools should take greater initiative by inviting guest speakers such as the district attorney to come and converse with students. Ultimately, the Board of Education must take proactive leadership and incorporate the fundamentals of law into all history curricula.

The combination of media and education reform will ensure a more aware and knowledgeable public.  Individuals will experience an increase in civic pride, moral sense, and public duty.  Consequentially, this will lead to a greater respect for the law, as citizens will begin to recognize the law’s significance and to identify it in action. In the future, the law will once again be recognized as one of the “noblest faculties of the soul” that “exerts in its practice the kindest virtues of the heart.”