Judges and Judiciary
Apr. 8, 2014
The temptation of common sense
A while back a lawyer wrote that "common sense" compelled victory on his motion. That's nice, I thought. So why had I bothered to read the cases? By Curtis E.A. Karnow
Curtis E.A. Karnow
Judge (ret.)
Judge Karnow is author of "Litigation in Practice" (2017) and current co-author of Weil & Brown et al., "California Practice Guide: Civil Procedure Before Trial" (Rutter).
"[T]he metaphysics of savages." - Bertrand Russell on common sense.
A while back a lawyer wrote that "common sense" compelled victory on his motion. That's nice, I thought. So why had I bothered to read the cases? Common sense would have been enough.
Common sense is argued to juries all the time; but also to judges. Some think sentencing is a matter of common sense: Intuition is good enough. Common sense is often argued under other banners - a party's position is "obvio...
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