Law operates best as present, prospective force serving the parties and society

Evidence

All of the loose ends presented in this discussion on the effect of altering the law can be pretty well tied together when it is realized that law is not a pure science, that law loses its vital meaning if it is not correlated to the organic society in which it lives, that law is a present and prospective force, that law needs some stability of administration, that the law is all the law there is, that law is more for the parties than for the courts, that people will rely upon and adjust their behavior in accordance with all the law be it legislative or judicial or both. — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 2924

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Applying newly changed law retroactively would let posterity govern the living — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 2929; Law’s meaning requires participant-spectators whose presence makes its motion meaningful. — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 485; Political power is lawmaking backed by force and limited to the public good — John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, 7 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Law’s meaning requires participant-spectators whose presence makes its motion meaningful. #expands (0.78) — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 485
• Political power is lawmaking backed by force and limited to the public good #qualifies (0.72) — John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, 7