Letting a murderer inherit would disgrace the state’s jurisprudence

Evidence

But can he give effect and operation to a will by murder, and yet take the property? To answer these questions in the affirmative, it seems to me, would be a reproach to the jurisprudence of our state, and an offense against public policy. — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 1917

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Refusing the inheritance punishes nothing beyond the criminal law’s own terms — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 1921; Take the old jurisprudential chestnut, discussed briefly in The Nature of the Judicial Process, whether a ‘murdering heir’ shall be allowed to inherit. The wills statute allows testators who comply with certain formalities to leave their property to whomever they please. There is no exception for the eventuality in which the beneficiary named in the will murders the testator. Should such an exception be interpolated by the courts? The answer, to the pragmatist, depends on the consequences.; Legal rules resting only on past authority deserve condemnation when their rationale has lapsed — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 1067

Broader Connections

• Take the old jurisprudential chestnut, discussed briefly in The Nature of the Judicial Process, whether a ‘murdering heir’ shall be allowed to inherit. The wills statute allows testators who… #responds-to (0.95)
• Legal rules resting only on past authority deserve condemnation when their rationale has lapsed #qualifies (0.72) — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 1067