Precedent Quotes

“Bush violated FISA [...] because he wanted to violate the law in order to establish the general 'principle' that he was not bound by the law, to show that he has the power to break the law, that he is more powerful than the law.”
― Glenn Greenwald, A Tragic Legacy: How a Good vs. Evil Mentality Destroyed the Bush Presidency

“A great believer in precedent,' Della Street said. 'I think if he were ever confronted with a really novel situation he'd faint. He runs to his law books, digs around like a mole and finally comes up with case that's what he calls on all fours and was decided seventy-five or a hundred years ago.”
― Erle Stanley Gardner, The Case of the Negligent Nymph

“Interpretation of laws and it's right application in its true spirit is the bedrock of any judicial mechanism and a legal system..There is a need to check the crevices of its precedents in the light of the laws at hand and the facts that have been dealt with. Though primafacie this may seem as a miniscule idea, it is wisdom to bear in mind that the purpose of the law is executing proper justice and executing order, and if this is ignored then, the purpose of the existence of such a mechanism of justice is itself thwarted. Thereby discussion on the principles of application of laws and it's interpretation in administration of justice is called for.”
― Henrietta Newton Martin

“You can use standards of legitimacy both as a sword to persuade others, and as a shield to help you resist pressure to give in arbitrarily. (“I would like to give you a discount, but this price is firm. It is what General Motors paid for the same item last week; here is the bill of sale.”) Just as, by finding relevant precedent and principles a lawyer enhances his or her ability to persuade a judge, so a negotiator can enhance his or her negotiation power by finding precedents, principles, and other external criteria of fairness and by thinking of ways to present them forcefully and tellingly: “I am asking for no more and no less than you are paying others for comparable work.” “We will pay what the house is worth if we can afford it. We are offering what the similar house nearby sold for last month. Unless you can give us a good reason why your house is worth more, our”
― Roger Fisher, Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In

“Many things which appear of little consequence in themselves and at the beginning may have great and durable consequences from their having been established at the commencement of a new general government.”
― George Washington

“This country needs the Program. And no, not as some military experiment - that's a fabrication, of course. Come on, why do you think we broadcast video of the winners on the local news? Sure, seeing that, a person might feel sorry for the child, and maybe they're thinking about how the poor kid probably didn't even want to play the game. But the chid was left with no choice but to fight the others. It serves to remind everyone that in the end they can't trust anyone. And soon, nobody's even thinking about banding together and staging a revolution. The Republic of Greater East Asia, and its ideals, will live on forever. And for the sake of such a lofty goal, everyone needs to die equally. I've taught my own children as much. My oldest - she's in second grade now - she's always saying how she'd give her life for the Republic.”
― Koushun Takami, Battle Royale: Remastered by Koushun Takami (8-May-2014) Paperback