Problem

America’s civil justice system was created to give every citizen a fair and impartial way to redress wrongs. But powerful special interest groups, often lobbying for self-serving outcomes, can compromise our system’s highest purpose. Since 1986, dozens of states have passed some form of legislation aimed at civil justice “reform.” Among them, Georgia lawmakers passed sweeping changes, arousing the concern of the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation’s bipartisan board.

Insight

The proponents of civil justice “reform” have relied on the politics of fear, capitalizing on abstractions or “frames” to advance their agenda.

Experienced communicators know that it’s pointless to fight frames with facts. Facts simply bounce off without challenging the validity of the ideological frame itself. CRANE research—exploratory study of the issues, media analysis, and segmented focus groups in three Georgia locations— confirmed the cognitive sticking power of these frames with all audiences.

We also found that points on both sides were blunted by rhetoric and co-opting of language like accountability, level playing field, and access. This left both readers and reporters struggling to discern the truth.

Solution

To help the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation shun negative ideological frames and claim positive new rhetorical territory, CRANE developed a values-based narrative that evokes a foundational American ideal: fair play.

In this narrative, civil justice acts as a compass that helps us as a nation locate “due north”–an agreed-upon code of acceptable ethical and moral principles and behaviors. The compass metaphor describes the function of civil justice for all citizens, whatever path they may be taking on the map of American possibilities, and provides a non-partisan frame to equip audiences to detect fear-based rhetoric that seeks to deflect the needle away from due north.

The campaign is united under fresh themes that resonate with America’s founding and an evocative tagline: Justice for all is a beautiful thing.

Status

Soon after the launch of the Foundation’s new program, the animations went viral nationally. Other states sought to emulate this conversation-changing approach, and various judicial and attorney groups across the country linked their own public education efforts to Georgia Civil Justice web content. Based on their pioneering work with CRANE, Foundation representatives were also honored with an invitation to present nationally at the ABA convention. Most importantly, the program has helped kindle public engagement with the civil justice system.

Organizations, attorneys, and educators across the country have asked to use our videos, and they often call back just to say “thank you” for giving them the best teaching tools they’ve ever had.

We wanted a way to get our message out. With CRANE’s help, we’re actually changing the conversation.

–Fred Smith,
executive director