Written constitutional rights fail when the community collectively opposes them

Evidence

The categories used in the legal process must be left ambiguous in order to permit the infusion of new ideas. — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 243 (#expands, via linked claim)

What surely is most needed in order to make men clear-sighted in confronting the official abuse of power, is that they should preserve the sense that the certification of something as legally valid is not conclusive of the question of obedience, and that, however great the aura of majesty or authority which the official system may have, its demands must in the end be submitted to a moral scrutiny. — HLA Hart, The Concept of Law (Clarendon Law…, 502 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Unlike legislative prohibition — which can be debated, delayed, and qualified — constitutional invalidity is immediate and total. The judgment left no room for a “moderate” defense, a “reasonable” ceiling, or any other calibration of the blow. The court’s reasoning turned on the observation that the calculus of permissible correction — assessing the severity of the child’s offense, the nature of the instrument, the age of the child — was itself incompatible with treating the child as a person entitled to dignity-based protection. South Africa thus achieved comprehensive prohibition through litigation rather than legislation, becoming the sixty-second prohibiting state and the first to reach prohibition exclusively through constitutional adjudication. — , The Rod and the Child, 10912 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Children constitute a political constituency constitutionally unable to enforce their own rights — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 10130; Guam residents remain American citizens denied full constitutional rights; The Communal Award proves social neglect forces itself into constitutional politics as nemesis. (+11 more)

Related

• Children constitute a political constituency constitutionally unable to enforce their own rights (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Legal categories remain ambiguous to accommodate changing community values #expands (0.60) — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 243
• Narrow concepts of legal validity fail to prevent official abuse of power #exemplifies (0.55) — HLA Hart, The Concept of Law (Clarendon Law…, 502
• Constitutional adjudication can achieve total prohibition where legislation cannot #qualifies (0.50) — , The Rod and the Child, 10912
• Referendum-driven constitutional change would destroy constitutional permanence. #corroborates (0.50) — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 262
• Written constitutions require that any repugnant legislative acts are void #qualifies (0.45) — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 480
• Forms of constitutional argument are validated by their presence in practice, not by approval #corroborates (0.40) — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 437