Constructing Reality: Social Science and Race Cases

Abstract

"Dred Scott v. Sanford", "Plessy v. Ferguson", "Brown v. Board of Education" and "Grutter v. Bollinger" all demonstrate that law alone is not enough to make social change. Instead, lawyers interested in social change must understand the nature of the societies that they attempt to persuade and the language that leads judges to change their ways of thinking. In the early 21st century, the language of persuasion is often the language of social science.