KNOWLEDGE OF THE LAW IN TEXAS: SOCIOECONOMIC AND ETHNIC DIFFERENCES.

This paper addresses itself to one problem among many within our legal system, i.e., citizen ignorance of the law. By ignorance of the law is meant not only ignorance of specific laws but of the rationale behind the entire legal process. The basic hypothesis of the research described was that if law as a social tool is less effective than it might be, it is in part because many citizens are unaware of how Legal processes may be used for their protection and for the solution of some of their problems. A second hypothesis of the research was that knowledge of the law is not equal for all groups in the population or, stated in another way, some are more ignorant than others. The questionnaire designed to assess attitudes toward and knowledge of the law was developed by these faculty and staff members with the added assistance of a senior law student who helped develop and pretest the instrument. In conclusion the low-income minority groups did no better than chance in answering the 30 questions posed to them about the laws that supposedly affect their lives.