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I wonder - what is more important, The Letter of the Law or The Spirit of The Law

Geoffrey51 8 June 20
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Depends on if you are a lawyer or not.

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The spirit of the law is slightly more important.

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Spirt

Marine Level 8 June 20, 2018
2

The law (whether civil or religious) is a blunt instrument that can't possibly anticipate every possible scenario, some of which can render a law that's just in one context, unjust in another, and which cannot be 100% objective and unambiguous to all comers.

That's why we have courts.

It's also why sometimes the courts show mercy or governments show compassion (or simple pragmatism) by not enforcing them or leaving enforcement to some authority closer to the local level.

That's why even if the Trump administration's contention that they are "just enforcing the law" and "have no choice" but to separate young children from their parents at the border wasn't obviously false, it would be no defense for doing so anyway, and failing to work with congress to repeal that law, because that would be enforcing an immoral law.

That's always the problem with law-and-order types, they confuse law with morality and obedience to the law with being moral.

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