Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

no_hypocrisy

(45,771 posts)
Wed Sep 23, 2020, 06:32 AM Sep 2020

Hitler's Justice: Courts of the Third Reich

I'm digging out this book from my library and I recommend you also read it.

Review 1
Read the first 100 pages, and you’ll see the parallels between the changes in the German judiciary in the run-up to Nazi law and the changes in the judiciary in the United States. What I found particularly troubling was the use by Nazi judges and prosecutors of an interpretive technique called the “teleological method.” pp. 80-81. The idea was that judges were to “identify a particular ideological meaning and intent underlying a given law and then to use this “intent” to undermine the wording of the law.” Our own right-wing judges call that “original intent.” The words don’t mean what you think they mean; there’s some “intent” that not reflected in the words on the page. The words say “ABC” but the founders originally intended “XYZ.” How horrible!

Review 2
How the German legal profession abandoned the rule of law, notably in the special tribunals (Special Courts and People's Courts) in Weimar and Nazi Germany. Muller notes that this trend pre-dated Hitler, that the laws enabling it were in the name of national security, that it followed the replacement of liberal with conservative judges over several decades, pre-Hitler, and that the judges had come to accept public affairs as a "friend or foe" paradigm with no room for loyal opposition.


https://www.amazon.com/Hitlers-Justice-Courts-Third-Reich/dp/067440419X

1 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Hitler's Justice: Courts of the Third Reich (Original Post) no_hypocrisy Sep 2020 OP
'It can't happen here.' Well? triron Sep 2020 #1
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Hitler's Justice: Courts...