[dmreedy]

Just for the record, I didn't mean to sound like I was happy about that point :). A more generalized system of recourse is an interesting idea, but I'm having a hard time imagining (and likely the fault of my own imagination) something more general than a court system. Either way, I feel like it'll be an immensely difficult uphill battle no matter what, because it's always easier to take the conservative route and defer to precedence, even if there's an acknowledged issue.

How does one rattle an institution out of its comfort zone? It's a pretty old question.

[ta0987]

IIUC Common law courts were supposed to be exactly that - that's where the concept of judicial precedent comes from. When a court hears a case and decides it's different enough from previous cases it makes a new ruling for that scenario which is now a precedent for other cases in that scenario. The collection of rulings built up over time is the law.

[matthewheath]

Indeed, although the system of precedent has its own challenges — bad law can be created by a court unilaterally and exist for years or decades before being overturned by a superior court.