Fidelity To Law Meaning
Related concepts
Neither view has triumphed. Most modern legal systems operate in the productive tension between them, and the meaning of fidelity shifts depending on which lens you wear. fidelity to law meaning
When Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was asked to define her legal philosophy in 2009, she distilled it into three words: "fidelity to the law." The phrase made headlines, yet as legal scholars quickly pointed out, it was more platitude than precision. "It can mean anything you want it to mean," said Anita Allen, a deputy dean at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Ronald Dworkin, the influential legal philosopher who helped popularize the term, put it even more bluntly: "The phrase means nothing, because there are so many contesting views about how to discover what the law is that 'fidelity to law' means fidelity to your own conception of law". Related concepts Neither view has triumphed
Fuller insisted that a regime that systematically violates these principles does not deserve the fidelity of right-thinking people. A citizen owes a duty to obey only where this inner morality is present. Law, as something deserving loyalty, must represent a human achievement; it cannot be a simple fiat of power or a repetitive pattern discernible in the behavior of state officials. The second picture is well captured by Fuller's notion of fidelity to law: law is in its nature something good, or at least striving toward being something good, and deserving our obedience, all else equal. "It can mean anything you want it to
Fidelity to law is often synonymous with or adherence to the rule of law . It is the faithful, conscientious application of legal rules, principles, and precedents, even when the outcome is personally disagreeable, politically unpopular, or morally challenging for the person applying it. Key components include:
As discussed by Lon L. Fuller in his famous debate with H.L.A. Hart , fidelity is only due to a system that strives for justice. If a system is entirely arbitrary or malicious (e.g., a "Nazi" regime), it lacks the internal morality necessary to claim fidelity.
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