NCJ Number
107323
Date Published
1985
Length
46 pages
Annotation
In examining the effectiveness of Canadian law as a tool for social equality, this paper examines the work of legislators as 'legal architects,' the work of law enforcers as 'legal technicians,' and the work of law reformers, who build the bridge between the 'public culture' of legal architecture and the 'control culture' of legal techniques.
Abstract
Following some conceptual distinctions, the paper analyzes the Canadian Constitution and its Charter of Rights and Freedoms, considering how its public character as the grand architecture for legal equality and justice is fictive, sometimes regressing to myth. It is actually a typical document providing for 'legal' inequality. The paper then examines the work of police and correctional officials, as well as that of law reformers and policymakers, considering how they mobilize their resources to perpetuate 'legal' inequality and reproduce social order. The paper argues that law enforcers and law reformers combine to produce law that legitimizes social control on behalf of those who hold power. The paper concludes that those who seek equality in social structure and social relations should look to means other than law. 77 references.