In Defense of the Law

Or at least of one aspect of it. The following quote in my criminal law book, apparently made by a juror to his fellow jury-members in a criminal case, put it well I think.

"The stiffness of the law is the product of a very serious idea; that the law should be exactly the same for everyone, regardless of who they are - that our 'rule of law' can never bend, because if it did it could be used to reach and get a particualr person, be used to satisfy paricular desires . . . Our legal system didn't end up this way by mistake; there have been decisions made to sacrifice the virtues of flexibility in exchange for absolute equality before the law."

I'm rather liking my Criminal Law class, despite the gruesomeness of the subject matter. (Murder, rape, assault, etc.) I suppose in part it's because I feel like this is something I have a handle on. It's not always simple to decide what is right and wrong, but at least here I'm dealing with familiar concepts, supplemented by legal doctrine explaining why things are the way they are, what the "reasonable doubt" standard really means, and so on.

But life is busy busy busy with interviews and my co-ed basketball team and work, so I'll leave it at that for tonight.