Law and Justice on the Small Screen

by Peter Robson (Editor), Jessica Silbey (Editor)

Overview

'Law and Justice on the Small Screen' is a wide-ranging collection of essays about law in and on television. In light of the book's innovative taxonomy of the field and its international reach, it will make a novel contribution to the scholarly literature about law and popular culture. Television shows from France, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and the United States are discussed. The essays are organised into three sections: (1) methodological questions regarding the analysis of law and popular culture on television; (2) a focus on genre studies within television programming (including a subsection on reality television), and (3) content analysis of individual television shows with attention to big-picture jurisprudential questions of law's efficacy and the promise of justice. The book's content is organised to make it appropriate for undergraduate and graduate classes in the following areas: media studies, law and culture, socio-legal studies, comparative law, jurisprudence, the law of lawyering, alternative dispute resolution and criminal law. Individual chapters have been contributed by, among others: Taunya Banks, Paul Bergman, Lief Carter, Christine Corcos, Rebecca Johnson, Stefan Machura, Nancy Marder, Michael McCann, Kimberlianne Podlas and Susan Ross, with an Introduction by Peter Robson and Jessica Silbey.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781849462693
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	08/01/2012
Pages:	488
Product dimensions:	6.69(w) x 9.61(h) x 0.98(d)

About the Author

Peter Robson is a Professor of Law at the University of Strathclyde.
Jessica Silbey is Professor of Law at Suffolk University Law School, Boston, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments v

Contributors ix

Introduction Peter Robson Jessica Silbey 1

Part I Method/Context 13

1 Measuring Humanity: Rights in the 24th Century Lief H Carter Michael McCann 15

2 Television, Pleasure and the Empire of Force: Interrogating Law and Affect in Deadwood Rebecca Johnson 33

3 Making 'Bad Apples' on the Bridge: A Production Study of the Making of a Police Drama Anita Lam 63

4 Testing Television: Studying and Understanding the Impact of Television's Depictions of Law and Justice Kimberlianne Podlas 87

5 Let's See how far We've Come: The Role of Empirical Methodology in Exploring Television Audiences Cassandra Sharp 111

Part II Genre Studies 133

A The Evolved Law TV Genres

6 Dark Justice: Women Legal Actors on Basic Cable Taunya Lovell Banks 135

7 A Third Rapist? Television Portrayals of Rape Evidence Rules Paul Bergman 153

8 Prosecutors and Psychics on the Air: Does a 'Psychic Detective Effect' Exist? Christine A Corcos 173

9 Lawyers in Terrorism Thrillers Tung Yin 193

B Reality Law TV 209

10 Til Debt do us Part: Reality TV and the Financial Literacy Regulatory Project Freya Kodar 211

11 Judging Reality Television Judges Nancy S Marder 229

12 Television Judges in Germany Stefan Machura 251

13 Judge Judy: Constructions of 'Justice with an Attitude' Marilyn Terzic 271

14 Reality TV and the Entrapment of Predators Mark Tunick 289

Part III Specific Shows 309

15 Bordering on Identity: How English Canadian Television Differentiates American and Canadian Styles of Justice Ummni Khan 311

16 Television Divorce in Post-Franco Spain: Anillos de oro (Wedding Rings) Anja Louis 347

17 'McNutty' on the Small Screen: Improvised Legality and the Irish-American Cop in HBO's The Wire Sara Ramshaw 361

18 Torture and Contempt of the Law in '24': Selling America New 'Patriotic' Values Ryan J Thomas Susan Dente Ross 381

19 Decoding the Dark Passenger: The Serial Killer as a Force for Justice. Adapting Jeff Lindsay's Dexter for the Small Screen Angus Nurse 403

20 Canada: ADR and the Associates Jennifer L Schulz 425

21 Stranger Danger?: Sadistic Serial Killers on the Small Screen Annette Houlihan 441

Index 455

Editorial Reviews

"...an innovative collection of essays on the influential interchange between the law and television.
Although generally accessible as a whole, the collection offers differing levels of legal discussion and analysis that make the content appealing to a broad audience.
Appealing to legal and sociological academics and students alike, the book has a wide appeal for those interested in how popular culture interchanges with legal constructs and the conceptions of justice." --Saskatchewan Law Review, Volume 76

"By raising questions which enact a thorough reflection on the fundamental issues in the shaping of popular legal culture, this volume allows its readers to approach the wide range of televised legal programmes with greater awareness, pointing out the important role that television continues to play in everyone's lives." --POLEMOS - Journal of Law, Literature and Culture, Volume 7(1)

"The authors impressed me in providing a more nuanced understanding of TV representations of a number of contemporary social problems, such as violence against women, racism and homophobia, in Australia and beyond

This is an important book for legal academics, students and practitioners who wish to explore the diverse impacts and 'meanings' of TV portrayals of legal matters in our society. More than that, the volume provides excellent teaching and learning material, raising many jurisprudential issues ... One could easily use the volume as the primary materials for courses in law and popular culture, as well as a seminar course in jurisprudence." --Alternative Law Journal, Volume 38(1)

"One virtue of edited volumes with multiple authors is the variety of perspectives and topics represented, and on this count, Law and Justice succeeds; it casts a very wide net. The volume may be of particular interest to scholars and students unfamiliar with, for example, approaches such as actor-network theory, which helpfully unpacked the blackbox of how television shows are produced. The chapters were educational and stimulating, and the anecdotal and interpretive evidence intriguing." --Law and Politics Book Review, Volume 23, No.1

"The chapters do provide an illuminating read through law and justice as represented on North American television. In limiting the chapters to law in literature - to predominately shows, especially the crime/lawyer drama, where the 'law' is immediately on the surface and to an analytical framework that focuses on this surface - there is a formal unity to the volume. This unity, the establishing of a mainstream core, is perhaps the true strength of the book." --Griffith Law Review, Volume 22. Number 1

From the Publisher