The Rule of Law is Dead

From the Washington Examiner:

       Recently retired federal appeals court Judge Richard Posner said he rarely looked to legal rules when deciding cases and often sought to skirt Supreme Court precedent.

       "I pay very little attention to legal rules, statutes, constitutional provisions," Posner told the New York Times in an interview published Monday. "A case is just a dispute. The first thing you do is ask yourself — forget about the law — what is a sensible resolution of this dispute?"

       When confronting a case with some form of legal obstacle in the way, the former 7th Circuit Court of Appeals judge said he would look to circumvent whatever prevented him from reaching his desired result.

       "When you have a Supreme Court case or something similar, they're often extremely easy to get around," Posner said.

Keep in mind that this is from a supposedly "conservative" judge. And since the Supreme Court takes so very few cases on appeal, he knew there was little chance of the decisions of his and his fellow judges being overturned. The reason why "rule of law" is important is to provide stability and assurance when it comes to legal questions; that someone can know whether or not they are within the law...even if the results may, at times, seem unfair; and that the law is being applied blindly and without partiality. This judge has created uncertainty and undermined the rule of law. But more than that, by ignoring legal rules, statutes and the constitution, this judge has usurped the role of the legislature and the will of the people, and violated his oath of office.