To the extent that the judicial profession becomes the daily routine of deciding cases on the most secure precedents and the narrowest grounds available, the judicial mind atrophies and its perspective shrinks.
Interpretation
The quote warns against relying solely on established precedents in judicial decision-making, suggesting it limits critical thinking.
Irving Kaufman highlights the danger of judges sticking strictly to precedents and narrow interpretations when making decisions. He argues that such an approach can lead to a stagnant judicial mindset, which fails to consider the broader implications and justice of each case. This reliance on past rulings can ultimately diminish the quality of legal reasoning and the effectiveness of the judiciary in addressing contemporary issues.
In practice
During a legal seminar discussing the importance of adaptability in law.
Our First Amendment expresses a far different calculus for regulating speech than for regulating nonexpressive conduct and that is as it should be. The right to swing your fist should end at the tip of my nose, but your right to express your ideas should not necessarily end at the lobes of my ears.
The man has a theory. The woman has hipbones. Here comes Death.
If I had never joined a church till I had found one that was perfect, I should never_x000D_ have joined one at all; and the moment I did join it, if I had found one, I should have_x000D_ spoiled it, for it would not have been a perfect church after I had become a member of_x000D_ it. Still, imperfect as it is, it is the dearest place on earthto us.
The senseless killing of 20 children and their teachers and principal at Sandy Hook Elementary School was not part of God's grand plan. It was a thwarting of God's plan. It was the misuse of human freedom.
Suddenly, as rare things will, it vanished.
There is no such thing as a happy ending. I never met a single one to equal "Once upon a time.
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