Quotation of the Day…
Posted By Don Boudreaux On August 27, 2012 @ 7:46 am In Complexity & Emergence,Hayek,Law | Comments Disabled
… is from page 556 of volume 1 of Harold Berman’s penetrating and important history of the western legal tradition, his 1983 Law and Revolution [1]:
Law, then, is custom transformed, and not merely the will or reason of the lawmaker. Law spreads upward from the bottom and not only downward from the top.
This fact is why I react the same as I do to hearing fingernails scratching hard on a chalkboard whenever I hear legislators referred to as “lawmakers.” ”Legislation-makers” would be fine and accurate – but “lawmakers” not so much so.
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[1] Law and Revolution: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0674517768/qid=1119360637/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-1296418-0122223
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