Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by stinkytaco 3392 days ago
Well, we can run down the rabbit hole of "interpretation", I guess, but there is a reason we have an appeals system and ultimately a final arbiter (the Supreme Court). The reason the justice system is separate from the legislative branch is because laws cannot cover every eventuality, nor would we want them to. A judge can interpret specific facts outside of the political machinations of the legislative branch. Indeed, it could be argued that this is good because it prevents the legislative branch from making laws to deal with specific situations (as a lawyer I once new said "Good cases make bad law"). Given the power of lobbyists and issues with earmarking in the legislative branch, I'd say this is a net good. In the case of Aereo, there was enough disagreement and enough room for that discussion that it ultimately had to be decided by the final court.