Jurispathic Baltimore? Law and Nomoi in The Wire

Abstract

Robert Cover argues that nomoi (normative universes) exist and operate in law-like fashion, serving as a competitor with the state’s law. The state’s response is jurispathic – it attempts to kill off competing nomoi. The HBO series The Wire portrays both the existence of nomoi and the state’s effort to kill it off. It also reveals that the jurispathic effort fails to destroy the community’s commitment to their nomos. Rather than destroy competing nomoi, The Wire portrays how a dialogue can emerge out of law-nomos conflict with the power to alter both law and nomos while promoting certain democratic goods.