What the F*ck is the Law??

Akin to the matrix or the Tao, one can not be told what "The Law" is, per say. We all "know" what it is of course, but if we had to define it, or why it exists, or more importantly why it exists the way that it does, my hunch is that most people would be hard pressed to find a satisfactory answer to those questions. Professor CivPro mentioned in class the distinct difference between ought/shall. Ought implies that it should be done, or that its reasonable to expect it to be done. Shall implies it will be done. I mention that, because the "LAW" in my view has always been an ought. There is no inherent reason it is the way it is, and our laws aren't inherently better then others, or a religious law i.e. the Commandments. That is why I was so excited when I ran across this passage as I was reading today.

Justice Holmes 1881

The standards of the law are standards of general application. The law takes no account of the infinite varieties of temperament, intellect, and education which make the internal character of a given act so different in different men...But a more satisfactory explanation is that, when men live in society, a certain average of conduct, a sacrifice of individual peculiarities going beyond a certain point, is necessary to the general welfare...[ A man's] congenital defects will be allowed for in the courts of heaven, but his slips are no less troublesome to his neighbors than if they sprang from guilty neglect...When a man has a distinct defect of such a nature that all can recognize it as making certain precautions impossible, he will not be held answerable for not taking them...

***The best part, and most clear statement of the law I've ever read or heard***

A man may have as bad a heart as he chooses, if his conduct is within the rules. The standards of the law are external standards, and however much it may take moral considerations into account, it does so only for the purpose drawing a line between such bodily motions and rests as it permits, and such as it does not. What the law really forbids, and the only thing it forbids, is the act on the wrong side of the line, be that act blameworthy or otherwise

Reading that gives me chills!! I know that may not mean much to you, but to me it illustrates what I have always felt about the law...namely, it is what we make it and while there is a strong correlation between being moral and lawful, the two are not mutually exclusive. There are wicked people that are law abiding citizens, and piously moral people that do unlawful things. It is important to keep the two concepts separate, especially for a lawyer. You don't have to prove or disprove someone is a good person, you do have to prove they were lawful/unlawful. That passage just really excited me! I like Justice Holmes, its not the first time I've read an interesting passage of his. Remember, always be lawful be moral at your own discretion.

Marqus A. Cole