Gavel Gamut

By Jim Redwine

Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote of, … “passion put to use in [her] old griefs”. I surmise she meant regrets and the gnashing of teeth are counterproductive but knowledge from life’s tough lessons can help assuage the pain and avoid repeating it. That’s the way I see Legal Theory.

It may be mentally taxing, however, if properly applied to everyday legal problems, sound theory can provide a foundation for analyzing perplexing situations. Often cases in court or questions brought to one’s attorney do not fall smoothly into pre-packaged solutions. And, if judges and lawyers force a pro-forma termination to unique facts, the parties must carry on without achieving complete resolution. This can lead to even greater conflicts between and among the contestants in the future. It certainly results in dissatisfaction with the legal system, which may lead to lack of support for one’s government or even to another inane television series about law.

So, what is Legal Theory and how can it be put to use? It is the reduction of law and government to elements and it is the realization the molecular structure of those elements changes as events change. For example, an elementary understanding of theft for hominoids three million years ago in Africa is not adequate to address how water can be rationed in California today.

On the other hand, legal scholars in the Olduvai Valley attempting to legislate permissible taking of mastodons and state and federal regulators in Sonoma Valley regulating water rights can achieve better, i.e. fairer and more reasonable sanctions, if they look first to general principles that have been developed based on experience.

One of the basic differences in Legal Theory and scientific theory is law is prescriptive and science is description. That is, law is often: if x happens then y is the penalty, whereas with science actions, reactions, etc., are observed and described. With law there are consequences and with science there are results. See Jerome Hall, “Law and Legal Method”, from Living Law of Democratic Society, p. 30.

As Professor Hall writes, “…[O]ne of the oldest insights of jurisprudence (Legal Theory) is that rules of law have the form of normative propositions”. What he means by this is law and its constant companion, ethics, are analyzed in terms of “ought”. If a cave man or an avocado farmer steals from his neighbor, then certain things should happen. The wrongdoer “ought” to do something “good” or “ought not” to do something “bad” and the legal system, whether in caves or courts “ought” to reward or sanction the caveman or the farmer.

Well, I warned you last week our discussion of Legal Theory would not draw the attention of the “Nattering Nabobs of Negativism” in the national media, or even, perhaps, both of you who have read to this point. However, I submit that even though Gavel Gamut may not compete with the Code of Hammurabi, Justinian, St. Thomas Aquinas or even Jerome Hall, there is value in Legal Theory.

Now, whether I can prove that proposition to you or whether you simply think it’s not worth the candle, may be another matter. Next week the topic will be putting Legal Theory to use by juxtaposing its two great concepts, Natural Law versus Positive Law.

The age-old dilemma for legal philosophers, attorneys and judges comes down to an examination of where Law comes from. Is it pre-existing, a creation of the gods, or are the gods a creation of mankind including “god-given” moral codes?

Another way of approaching the general dichotomy of Natural Law (eternal and unchanging) versus Positive Law (made by humans based on experience) is to ask the question: If one steals a neighbor’s goat (or water) is there a sanction based on some ethereal edict or does the sanction (law) arise from experience?

For example, if x steals from y and society does not help y, then y may attack x and make society weaker and more dangerous. Is this knowledge a gift from the gods (Natural Law) or knowledge gained from experience (Positive Law)?

Another more likely question you are probably asking is, “Do you believe they pay law professors to teach this stuff?”

Generating primary medical research and creating a new urban living environment will drive Southwest Indiana’s Regional Cities proposal.  Presented this week to members of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation along with four representatives of the Regional Cities strategic review team, Southwest Indiana’s plan, entitled Indiana’s Great Southwest, will help create demand drivers and quality of place projects that attract talent as well as build a national brand.   Two Indiana regions will be selected to receive up to $42 million to implement its plan.

Cornerstone projects of the Southwest Indiana plan are embedding primary research within the new Indiana University School of Medicine Multi-Institutional Academic Health Science Education and Research Center; and, building the Working Lab for New Urban Living, a partnership that includes Vectren, a Midwest energy company, and Haier, the world’s largest appliance manufacturer.

The research center will include outpatient-based research involvPing four regional hospital partners; early discovery engagements associated with pharma and medical devices; and, incubator space to accommodate startup businesses while increasing the capacity to attract talent interested in medical research, medical entrepreneurial pursuits, or both.

Playing off the “Internet of Things”, Haier, Vectren  and a selected private developer will create a downtown housing complex that will function as a new urban living research center.  With significant growth in urban living across North America, considerable value exists in designing new appliances and related products for small urban living spaces with the ability to monitor, research and analyze energy utilization under various controlled conditions.

The project would be developed in partnership with a private real-estate firm and operate as a platform for research and development associated with energy efficiency and “connected” appliances.

“Our plan will dramatically transform Southwest Indiana,” said Greg Wathen, President & CEO of the Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana.  “With the help of the Regional Cities initiative,our vision of becoming the next frontier for talent and business will soon be a reality.”

Other plan projects include a university student-driven mixed use development in downtown Oakland City; conversion of a former school in New Harmony into an educational center for arts and local farm-to-table entrepreneurial efforts; and, a pilot broadband demonstration project.  The Coalition funded development of the Regional Cities plan and has co-led the process with a consortium of consultants including the Lochmueller Group, Garner Economics and VPS Architecture.

Seven regions throughout Indiana submitted proposals to gain the honor of being named a regional city and claiming $42 million for its projects:  Central, East Central, North Central, Northeast, Northwest, West Central and Southwest Indiana.  You may view all of the applications here. ( Insert link: http://indianaregionalcities.com/regionaldevelopmentplans/)

About the Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana

The Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana acts as the marketing arm as well as the regional economic development and community development organization for Gibson, Posey, Vanderburgh, and Warrick Counties in Southwest Indiana.  The Coalition works with its local county economic development organization partners to facilitate attraction and business retention activities along with supporting efforts to enhance the business climate through regional capacity building.    Since its formation in late 2006, the Coalition has helped to secure over nearly $3 billion in new investment and 3,568 new jobs from existing and new companies such as Haier America, Berry Plastics, Mead Johnson, Toyota Boshoku, Midwest Fertilizer Corporation and AT&T.

Another important aspect of the Coalition’s multi-faceted job description is helping the communities it serves build new capacity for future development in its role as a regional planning organization.  The Coalition has helped secure more than $73 million in grants for key quality of place infrastructure such as expansion of water and sewer systems; building new community centers; and, making improvements to the region’s levee system, which protects thousands of acres along America’s inland waterways.