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
If we live out of our memory, we're tied to the past and to that which is finite. When we live out of our imagination, _x000D_ we're tied to that which is infinite.
Truth, in matters of religion, is simply the opinion that has survived.
Among the hills, when you sit in the cool shade of the white poplars, sharing the peace and serenity of distant fields and meadows - then let your heart say in silence, "God rests in reason." And when the storm comes, and the mighty wind shakes the forest, and thunder and lightning proclaim the majesty of the sky, - then let your heart say in awe, "God moves in passion.
Remus Lupin was supposed to be on the H.I.V. metaphor. It was someone who had been infected young, who suffered stigma, who had a fear of infecting others, who was terrified he would pass on his condition to his son. And it was a way of examining prejudice, unwarranted prejudice towards a group of people. And also, examining why people might become embittered when they're treated that unfairly.
There may be responsible persons, but there are no guilty ones.
There are, above all, times in which the human reality, always mobile, accelerates, and bursts into vertiginous speeds. Our time is such a one, for it is made of descent and fall.
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