SOURCE: Richman, Stephen M. “Sidney Lanier and the Poetry of Legal Morality.” Cumberland Law Review 25, no. 2 (1995): 309-29.

In the following essay, Richman discusses the jurisprudential value of Lanier's poetry and the influence of Lanier's legal training on his literary pursuits.

Introduction

While the Courts of Chivalry may be dead,¹ American courts still remain attuned to the concept of chivalry, even in commercial contexts.² The concept is more than a casual topic of discussion. On occasion, it can rise to a level of judicial concern. For example, in Lee v. Commissioner,³ Judge Cameron, in dissent, wrote in a case involving review of income tax deficiencies and fraud penalties:

It is fundamental in the Anglo-Saxon scheme of justice, recognized at common law and by statutes in practically all the states, that those who are not able to speak for themselves shall be accorded protection by the sealing of the lips...