4 ms·

That's how Common Law has always worked, no? Judges make law. I would guess the rate of Amendments is inversely proportional to the stability of the country (st

That's how Common Law has always worked, no? Judges make law. I would guess the rate of Amendments is inversely proportional to the stability of the country (static borders, no more domestic wars, increasing body of case law/precedent). Textualists and originalists seem to be Civil Code fans in Common Law clothing.

lmm 5y ago
Judges fill out the details of law that aren't in the statutes, but they're not meant to create substitute statutes from whole cloth.
- xxpor 5y ago
  Sure they are. Michigan still has no murder statute. (There's a penalty statute, but the actual definition is common law).
  - lmm 5y ago
    There is non-statute common law from time immemorial, sure, but later law is supposed to be grounded in the stautes.