Essay on Letter of Law vs Spirit of Law
“Law students, having drunk at this intoxicating well,” come away thinking that the highest function of the judge is “devising, out of the brilliance of one’s own mind, those laws that ought to govern mankind. How exciting!”
Now to fully understand the meaning behind this quote by Justice Scalia, it is important to note the origins of judicial-policy making. Judicial policy-making arose in the old common-law system in England where judges, unconstrained by any means of a written constitution exercised the “exhilarating” function of creating law! Alas, American students who studied in England brought it back, so that eventually it spread to modern American law schools where impressionable young law students eagerly grab at this idea like a new toy.
With that in mind I will now move along to my definitions, which I have acquired, from Black’s Law Dictionary and Richard Heymann, a professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School to clarify the resolution:
When in conflict the letter of the law ought to take priority over the spirit of the law. When in conflict between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law are situations in which judges seek to substitute their own prejudices and biases for the will of the legislature or the constitution.
Letter of the Law refers to the strict literal meaning of the law, contrary to the millions of twists that could be put on it by people.
Spirit of the Law is defined as the twists on the law opposed to its literal meaning. Spirit is defined by Webster as (1) an inclination or tendency (2) a particular mood or emotional state characterized by vigor or animation (3) the predominate mood of an occasion or period- in sum spirit is simply a broad word referring to the general mentality surrounding a particular event. Thus the spirit of the law is the predominant mood or inclination which existed at the time the law was adopted. Read more…