The Path of the Law

Download or read book The Path of the Law written by Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. and published by The Floating Press. This book was released on 2009-05-01 with total page 42 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Path of the Law is a short essay by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., an American jurist who served on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932. A cornerstone of his jurisprudential philosophy was the prediction theory of law, believing the law should be defined specifically as a prediction of how the courts work. In The Path of the Law Holmes argues that a criminal isn't concerned about ethics or conceptions of natural law; they are concerned about avoiding punishment and jail. "The law", therefore, should be based on prediction of what will bring about punishment via the court system.