On 7/17/99, Robert Cumbow <rcumbow[_at_]grahamdunn.com> wrote:
>
> I find it astonishing that so many people on this list apparently
> believe that the law should be clear and pat and exactly the same
> for every person and situation, instead of flexible enough to
> accommodate different sets of facts, circumstances, and points of
> view. The flexibility inherent in a common law system of justice
> like the one Americans inherited from the British is precisely
> what separates a free people from an autocracy.
The law should attempt to strike a balance between flexibility and predictability. I would venture to say that American law errs on the side of flexibility. Moreover, some might say that flexibility is a nice word, and that a more accurate description is "let's toss a coin with x [pick your number] sides, one for each factor."
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