THE NATURE OF LAW

The question often arizes about interventionist courts and strict constructionist courts.  Do not be fooled.  Neither is a formal school of thought.  One tends to emphasize looking at types of situations and how they have been viewed treated in figuring out what to do.   The other tends to look at words alone to tell the entire story.  Both are only tools in pursuit of better independent judgement.  Both are usefull and both can be misused.  The fact of the matter is that even now we are trying to figure out the nature of law and probably always will be.

There is a beautiful story in the Hebrew commentaries of the Old Testament - the Talmud, Baba Mezia. In the story, God sends miraculous signals by changing nature; the intent was to assist in settling a legal dispute. When the Judges of the case declare these signals to be irrelevant, God's reaction is jubilant as he declares "My children have vanquished me, my children have vanquished me". As with any parent whose child has made a first independent judgement, the response was joyful as the decision was fashioned as an intelligible resolution to the conflict. Law is basically secular in almost all but a few Islamic countries; it is a tool with which our politicians may better govern us all "intelligibly".

Conrad F. Cropsey, Briggs Bldg., Ablion, New York

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