In a constitutional democracy the moral content of law must be given by the morality of the framer or legislator, never by the morality of the judge.
Interpretation
Laws should reflect the intentions of lawmakers rather than judges' personal morals.
This quote suggests that in a constitutional democracy, it is essential for the laws to be rooted in the values and intentions of those who create them (the framers or legislators), rather than being influenced by the subjective moral interpretations of judges. This perspective highlights the importance of democratic principles and the role of lawmakers in shaping the legal framework of society.
In practice
In a discussion on judicial activism, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of adhering to the law as intended by its creators.
The notion that Congress can change the meaning given a constitutional provision by the Court is subversive of the function of judicial review; and it is not the less so because the Court promises to allow it only when the Constitution is moved to the left.
A society deadened by a smothering network of laws while finding release in moral chaos is not likely to be either happy or stable.
When a judge assumes the power to decide which distinctions made in a statute are legitimate and which are not, he assumes the power to disapprove of any and all legislation, because all legislation makes distinctions
I am now convinced that theoretical physics is actually philosophy.
Sincerity is always subject to proof.
What do we know but that we face one another in this place?
All systems of morality are based on the idea that an action has consequences that legitimize or cancel it. A mind imbued with the absurd merely judges that those consequences must be considered calmly.
Somebody said to me, 'But the Beatles were anti-materialistic.' That's a huge myth. John and I literally used to sit down and say, 'Now, let's write a swimming pool.'
It is Hell, of course, that makes priests powerful, not Heaven, for after thousands of years of so-called civilization fear remains the one common denominator of mankind
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