Poor-relief law, like animal-protection law, punishes only public scandal

Evidence

Assistance to the poor holds, in legal teleology, the same position as the protection of animals. No one is punished in Germany for torturing an animal, except if he does it “publicly or in a manner that results in scandal.” It is not, therefore, consideration for the mistreated animal but rather for the witnesses that determines punishment. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 414

Categorization

• SHARE: The parallel between welfare law’s structure and German animal-cruelty law (punished only for scandal) is a striking bit to send to someone into legal theory.
• CANDY: The ‘poor occupy the same legal position as animals’ analogy is a tweetable, lightly provocative fact.