The legal system we follow has generally served its purpose in providing order and justice in most situations that require legal obedience. However, to the extent that it produces social change, the system has not proven capable of bringing about change in society. Clarence Darrow perhaps explains this situation by saying that the law applies to and favors specific types of social classes. Robert Cover explains how sanctions imposed by judges can defeat their purpose. Karla Fischer and her peers, as well as Jackie Campbell's "Walking the Beat Alone," show how law aims to serve society, but fails to promote social change and in fact hinders its progress. The film Eyes on the Prize depicts the efforts of African Americans to disobey the law in order to make a statement. Finally, in his book Why People Obey the Law, Tom Tyler discusses laws that people do not obey simply because it is a law. The role of the legal system is believed to be to bring about social change. However, the system is structured to favor certain groups of people and in many cases, laws and court decisions have thwarted their intentions and failed to create change in society. In Clarence Darrow's speech to the Cook County Jail Prisoners, he discusses why people are in jail and what crime is. Darrow believes that people are in prison because they are poor (Darrow 227). He believes that the legal system favors those who possess wealth (Darrow 229). If there were fewer poor people, there would be less crime. If it were easier for people to get rich, there would be less crime. The legal system is structured so that those without money cannot obey the law. He does not believe that our system provides justice, but that it more or less simply provides services...... middle of paper ......in, 2006. Print.Cover, Robert. “The violence of legal acts”. Before the law. 8th. Boston, MA: HoughtonMifflin, 2006. Print. Darrow, Clarence. “Address to the Prisoners of the Cook County Jail.” Before the law. 8th.Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. Print.Fischer, Karla, Neil Vidmar, and Rene Ellis. “The Culture of Domestic Violence and the Role of Mediation in Domestic Violence Cases.” Before the law. 8th. Boston, MA: HoughtonMifflin, 2006. Print McCann, Michael. Law and social movements. In The Blackwell Companion to Law and Society, ed. Austin Sarat, Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub. 2004. Tyler, Tom. “Why people obey the law.” In Law and Society: Readings on the Social Study of Law, 474-496. New York: WW Norton & Co.FILM: Eyes on the Prize. Henry Hampton. PBS. 1990