This special issue of Studies in Law, Politics, and Society is dedicated to the life and work of beloved legal scholar Stuart Scheingold. The articles brought together in this volume articulate the inspiring contribution Scheingold made to political science and law and society. The final chapter "Rights, Community, and Democracy: A Socio-Legal Critique of the Neoconservative Case against Rights" is a work authored by Stuart Scheingold which has been completed by his co-author and is published here for the first time. This volume shows how Scheingold helped to bridge the differences between how rights are expressed within the law, and how they are actually put into practice. Centering on the theme of "the myth of rights" the chapters discuss diverse aspects of society, crime, politics, and law; most specifically street crime, immigration and crime control policies, political criminology and urban social control, race and "displaced anxiety" within communities in the US, and animal rights.