Found the quote I was looking for, Selden and Blackstone on the difference between a court of law and a court of equity. In a court of equity, the chancellor rules according to his conscience, not according to the law, as in a court of law.
“For law, we have a measure, and know what to trust to: equity is according to the conscience of him that is chancellor; and as that is larger or narrower, so is equity. 'Tis all one, as if they should make the standard for the measure a chancellor's foot. What an uncertain measure would this be! One chancellor has a long foot, another a short foot, a third an indifferent foot. It is the same thing with the chancellor's conscience."
Which is why judges in courts of law are supposed to rule according to law, not to their personal moral creed or personal preferences.
It's the job of the people, acting through their legislatures, to make law. Not judges. |
