4 ms·
It seems to me that the law and precedent are used by courts much like the Bible is by preachers. You can justify almost anything you want. I read the whole pa
by logn 12y ago
It seems to me that the law and precedent are used by courts much like the Bible is by preachers. You can justify almost anything you want.
I read the whole paper (sans footnotes) and it makes a lot of sense. Had I not also read the legal memo on extra-judicial assassinations, I'd be a lot more confident that an average person could predict court decisions based on the current body of law and precedent. But I think any decision can be reached, at least in practical effect, considering the power to dismiss cases and exclude evidence.
- mdholloway 12y agoThis is true, but only to a point. In principle, if the reasoning is flawed in some obvious way (say, writing a memo on executive power during wartime without citing Youngstown Steel, the leading case on the subject), other people with requisite training will sooner or later recognize that, and the error will be corrected. Of course, this requires public scrutiny to work. Hence the problems with secret legal memos and secret court opinions.