2: Public Awareness and Dialogue

Stimulate public awareness of, and dialogue about, law and its role in society.

Other Information:

"Americans live in an information age. The development of new, and the expansion of traditional, media has significantly increased public exposure to information. Reports about events happening in one part of the United States are quickly disseminated to other parts -- often by live telecast! Americans are bombarded daily with information about the law, lawyers, and the legal system. Whether legal matters actually occurred (such as the O.J. Simpson murder trial) or are fictional (such as a best-selling novel, an award-winning film, or a weekly television drama), they help shape public perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs. Educational efforts can help deepen public understanding by clarifying situations, counteracting misleading ideas and images, and providing accurate and timely information. America’s schools have an important role to play in fostering public understanding, but they can’t be expected to do so by themselves.We need broad-based efforts to stimulate public awareness and engage citizens in dialogue about law and legal issues and the role they play in a law-based democratic society. Accordingly, public education about law is critical to effective citizenship and the maintenance of a free and democratic society. The American Bar Association has long recognized this."Education," the great Swedish sociologist and economist Gunnar Myrdal emphasized, "has in America’s whole history been the major hope for improving the individual and society." The ABA’s commitment to public education about law is consistent with that insight. With the approach of the 21st century, the realities of the information age in which Americans live make the need for public education about law that much more compelling. To meet current and future challenges, the ABA seeks to capitalize on its strengths, build on its past accomplishments and current activities, and vigorously search out more effective ways to promote public understanding of law and its role in our dynamic and increasingly diverse society.The ABA’s commitment to public education about law is consistent with that insight. With the approach of the 21st century, the realities of the information age in which Americans live make the need for public education about law that much more compelling. To meet current and future challenges, the ABA seeks to capitalize on its strengths, build on its past accomplishments and current activities, and vigorously search out more effective ways to promote public understanding of law and its role in our dynamic and increasingly diverse society.The ABA Division for Public Education is an important catalyst for such broad-based law-related civic education efforts. By convening public forums on cutting-edge topics and issues, along with annual and commemorative events (such as Law Day and the upcoming bicentennial of Marbury v. Madison), we can focus public attention on, and discussion about, the importance of law and its role in American society. To stimulate and support community- and school-based efforts to create a legally literate public, we also need to disseminate high-quality resources of various media. These media include print publications, television and radio programs, film and video productions, interactive media, and electronic publishing. By effectively disseminating our programs and resources to diverse and newly emerging public constituencies, we can promote greater accessibility to, and understanding of, the legal system

Objective(s):

2.a: Public Forums

2.b: Publicity

2.c: Marketing

2.d: Public Awareness

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