From: Ray Saintonge saintonge@telus.net
Lawyers' opinions are still just opinions no matter how many of them are given. A single unappealed decision by a low-level judge would be a precedent that could throw all 20 scholarly opinions out the window.
If I correctly understood what a first-year law student once told me... and if _he_ correctly understood what _he_ was told... even a Supreme Court (of the U. S.) ruling is just a set of opinions about an individual case... and all cases are different.
So, when a lawyer says "thus-and-such is the law because of thus-and- such Supreme Court ruling," this is shorthand for saying "if your particular case were taken to court, the lawyers would probably point out to the judge that there was a Supreme Court ruling in a somewhat similar case. I predict that the judge would think the opinions of a Supreme Court justices are legally sound. And I your case is similar enough that the judge will feel that their opinions pretty much apply in your case. Therefore I predict that it is very likely that the judge will rule thus-and-such way in your case."
Daniel P. B. Smith wrote:
From: Ray Saintonge saintonge@telus.net
Lawyers' opinions are still just opinions no matter how many of them are given. A single unappealed decision by a low-level judge would be a precedent that could throw all 20 scholarly opinions out the window.
If I correctly understood what a first-year law student once told me... and if _he_ correctly understood what _he_ was told... even a Supreme Court (of the U. S.) ruling is just a set of opinions about an individual case... and all cases are different.
So, when a lawyer says "thus-and-such is the law because of thus-and- such Supreme Court ruling," this is shorthand for saying "if your particular case were taken to court, the lawyers would probably point out to the judge that there was a Supreme Court ruling in a somewhat similar case. I predict that the judge would think the opinions of a Supreme Court justices are legally sound. And I your case is similar enough that the judge will feel that their opinions pretty much apply in your case. Therefore I predict that it is very likely that the judge will rule thus-and-such way in your case."
Absolutely! If you read enough law cases you soon see that half the lawyers are arguing (perhaps indirectly) why the case is similar to one already decided by the Supreme Courtwhile the other half is arguing to distinguish it. The statements that we make in most areas of life are highly probibilistic, and absolute truth is seldom encountered.
Ec