United States | News & Politics

7108 readers

188 users here now

founded 4 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

286

Donald Trump banned from Colorado ballot in historic ruling by state’s Supreme Court (apnews.com)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

46 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Read the full decision.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Sure but the intentions of people long dead doesn't need to come into it, is my point. We can apply the law as it makes sense in the context of the present.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

One of the tenets of our legal system is that our laws are applied evenly so that people understand what is legal or not.

If the interpretation of a law changes with time then you could find yourself a foul of the law when previously you weren't. It's why "precedent" matters.

Absent precedent we need to understand what the law makers meant with the words they used. Especially for old laws since language changes over time.

This is an important step and how the system works. We cannot and should not skip it.