Judicial Discretion and Judgment

The cluster discusses the human role of judges in interpreting and applying laws through judgment and discretion, rather than treating law as rigid code, often debating whether judges should have such flexibility or if laws should be more deterministic.

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3,996
Comments
20
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#1623
Topic ID

Activity Over Time

2007
2
2008
10
2009
33
2010
33
2011
112
2012
169
2013
188
2014
133
2015
125
2016
233
2017
236
2018
194
2019
257
2020
337
2021
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2022
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2023
409
2024
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2025
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2026
16

Keywords

US TRY HN judges judge law discretion lawyers court judgment children routinely deciding

Sample Comments

lisper Jul 31, 2016 View on HN

It's a judgement call. Which is why we have judges.

eru Jan 18, 2022 View on HN

Keep in mind: the judges that interpret the law are humans, not computers.

kingcharles Oct 31, 2021 View on HN

Wait... there are smart judges?!

MichaelZuo Nov 13, 2024 View on HN

That’s what judges already do when deciding cases…?

pmiller2 Mar 30, 2018 View on HN

Judges are not stupid. I doubt this would fly in an actual court.

foldr May 17, 2019 View on HN

It's reasonable to expect judges to use their judgment and discretion in applying the law. It's not reasonable to expect them to use your judgment and discretion.

twoodfin Sep 22, 2013 View on HN

Indeed, it's a judgment call. That's why we have judges and juries.

coffeeblack Mar 1, 2022 View on HN

That’s for a judge to decide, not some helpdesk intern.

nkrisc Apr 11, 2025 View on HN

That's what judges and juries are for. Law is not computer code.

fiatmoney Jan 13, 2015 View on HN

Judges & juries really, really hate reasoning like that.