Quote Originally Posted by bondsman View Post
Making decisions purely based on law can often lead to situations where most would agree the verdict is unfair. It it really a crime when an eighteen year old has sex with a seventeen year old? It's often lenient, but there is still a record. The original poll I think should have used "common sense" rather than "fairness". I agree both are subjective, but that's why we have very knowledgeable people in law that can make common sense decisions, and should be able to.
Again, i think that exactly this should not happen. Although it sounds convincing, a judge should do nothing but decide by the law, and only the law. If this goes against fairness or common sense, the law (or constitution) should be changed. The keyword is subjective, and that's exactly what should be avoided. We all know that sticking to the law still is subjective enough, of course.
What one person in the judicial system might find fair might be utterly unfair to the next one. And the result of this would be arbitrary decisions.