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Article: Human services and law. (Legal Notes).
- Article from:
- Policy & Practice
- Article date:
- March 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 American Public Human Services Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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We look to the courts a lot these days. It seems that not a single day goes by when courts are not featured on the national newscast. By habit--and, one hopes, still with awe--we cling to courts as a last refuge for justice. Perhaps we grasp too tightly. Courts cannot solve our problems for us. Most often, they mediate interpretations of our own indecisiveness.
This is especially true regarding human services. We turn to courts to deal with one social problem after another: abortion, child and elder abuse, involuntary electroshock treatment, stalking, battered women, repressed memory; parental kidnapping. And the list goes on.
The language lawyers use is ...