{"id":86317,"date":"2022-01-25T06:58:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T11:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=86317"},"modified":"2022-08-01T15:02:07","modified_gmt":"2022-08-01T19:02:07","slug":"the-drama-of-legal-ideas","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/articles\/2022\/the-drama-of-legal-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"The Drama of Legal Ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin record-block-editorial-leadin is-style-side-by-side has-media has-wider has-box has-media-focus-center-middle has-quinary-theme\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1000\" height=\"1500\" src=\"\/law\/files\/2022\/01\/Tsai-Robert.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"Professor Robert Tsai\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2022\/01\/Tsai-Robert.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2022\/01\/Tsai-Robert-424x636.jpg 424w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2022\/01\/Tsai-Robert-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2022\/01\/Tsai-Robert-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2022\/01\/Tsai-Robert-551x826.jpg 551w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2022\/01\/Tsai-Robert-455x682.jpg 455w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2022\/01\/Tsai-Robert-688x1032.jpg 688w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2022\/01\/Tsai-Robert-881x1321.jpg 881w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2022\/01\/Tsai-Robert-229x344.jpg 229w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2022\/01\/Tsai-Robert-353x529.jpg 353w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2022\/01\/Tsai-Robert-459x688.jpg 459w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2022\/01\/Tsai-Robert-705x1058.jpg 705w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2022\/01\/Tsai-Robert-909x1364.jpg 909w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2022\/01\/Tsai-Robert-667x1000.jpg 667w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">Research<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Drama of Legal Ideas\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">Professor Robert Tsai dives into the life of Stephen Bright, who led the Southern Center for Human Rights for more than 30 years, in his next book.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar record-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">January 25, 2022<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/authors\/june-d-bell\/\">June D. Bell<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p>Professor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/robert-l-tsai\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Robert L. Tsai<\/a>, an expert on constitutional law, political development, and equality, is exploring a new genre in his next book. His deep dive into the life of Stephen Bright, a passionate defender of racial justice and equality, aims to be both a satisfying intellectual read and a tantalizing legal thriller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bright, who led the Southern Center for Human Rights for more than 30 years, argued several US Supreme Court cases involving counties that tried to rig juries in death penalty cases to exclude women and Black people. \u201cYou can\u2019t get a more powerful illustration of why equality might matter than in those moments where someone\u2019s appeal for mercy will turn on the existence of one or two people on that jury,\u201d says Tsai, who is also a Law Alumni Scholar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote record-block-bu-pullquote alignwide is-style- has-image-focus-center-middle has-quinary-theme\"><div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote-inner\"><figure><\/figure><blockquote><div class=\"container-lockup\"><div class=\"container-icon-outer\"><div class=\"container-icon-inner\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container-text\"><hr\/><div class=\"quote-sizing\">There are those moments in Bright\u2019s cases that are incredibly dramatic: where he\u2019s grilling a prosecutor on the stand or he\u2019s engaged in debate with Justice [Antonin] Scalia and they\u2019re going after each other. I want readers to really appreciate the high drama and [understand] why legal ideas also matter in those moments.<\/div><footer class=\"caption\">Professor Robert Tsai<\/footer><hr\/><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Slated for publication in 2022, <em>Ask the Impossible: Race, Poverty, and One Man\u2019s Quest for Equal Justice<\/em> provides context for the mass incarceration from the 1970s to the present day, which has disproportionately affected Black people and the poor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere are those moments in Bright\u2019s cases that are incredibly dramatic: where he\u2019s grilling a prosecutor on the stand or he\u2019s engaged in debate with Justice [Antonin] Scalia and they\u2019re going after each other,\u201d Tsai says. \u201cI want readers to really appreciate the high drama and [understand] why legal ideas also matter in those moments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-end-of-article\">Tsai joined BU\u2019s faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has highlighted the tensions between public safety mandates and individual rights. \u201cIf you have too robust a theory of property rights or individual liberty, like \u2018I don\u2019t want to wear a mask\u2019 or \u2018I don\u2019t want to have to take a shot; I should be able to do what I want,\u2019 this is really going to interfere with effective science and effective policy,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re in the middle of this debate right now: Where do you draw the line between liberty and power?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Professor Robert L. Tsai, an expert on constitutional law, political development, and equality, is exploring a new genre in his next book. His deep dive into the life of Stephen Bright, a passionate defender of racial justice and equality, aims to be both a satisfying intellectual read and a tantalizing legal thriller.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11260,"featured_media":86327,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"Research","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[1673,1333],"bu-publication":[3742],"record-article-category":[3751,3786],"record-topic":[3914],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/86317"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11260"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86317"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/86317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86329,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/86317\/revisions\/86329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86317"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=86317"},{"taxonomy":"record-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/record-article-category?post=86317"},{"taxonomy":"record-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/record-topic?post=86317"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=86317"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=86317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}