RE: Week 6 debate topic - Spirit vs Letter of the law
Wow! Great debate. Thanks again @WWF for an amazing avenue for these types of discussions. I loved reading through the responses. Reading through them made me think, what is the point of writing something down? It is to communicate or convey an idea or thought. So I don't think you can separate the letter of the law from the intent. At least not when you don't have the author(s) to ask. Unfortunately when we write something down we don't usually define the terms. Probably because we assume our audience knows what we mean or at least what we are talking about. However after a long time the language changes and the newer audience might not be good at putting the writing in the original context or time reference. Because of that the courts need the letter of the law to figure out the intent or spirit of the law. So to answer the question:
Should the courts be focusing on interpreting the spirit of the statutes and regulations or the letter of the documents as drafted by the legislators?
I am with the majority of the responses in that they should be focusing on interpreting the spirit of the statutes and regulations, though I would add by using what is written. Unfortunately, like has already been pointed out they do what is in their best interest and not the best interest of others.
So essentially you are saying they should use both to get a balance? That would makes sense and I suspect that originally was the idea behind it, but it has become somewhat perverted.
Actually I'm saying that the purpose of the written law is to describe the intent or the spirit of the law. So the written is a tool given by the writer so that we have a chance of getting to the intent of what they were trying to say.
At times when debating, I can tell if I have an audience that is open to new ideas, and who is simply defending an old one with disregard for all further input. So the debate is then dead.
So I think any true discussion relies upon both parties being open to being wrong, then a real discussion can happen, but if one has a vested interest in the outcome, then a true discussion is destroyed !
Thoughts that came to me while reading your response. I do believe we are all talking about the same thing.
Peace.