krytocracy
A Krytocracy is a government ruled by judges. The word itself may either be a false archaism (it should properly be spelled critocracy or kritocracy), or may be a deliberate reference to other word-initial roots like "crypto-", or "hypo-" (as in hypocrisy), whose "y"s come from Greek "υ".
Perhaps the most famous instance of the use of the word was during a discussion between United States Supreme Court Justice Stanley Reed and his law clerk about Brown v. Board of Education. The clerk mentioned that the then still-evolving majority of the Court was reaching the "desirable" result. Reed thought that this observation was irrelevant and dangerous, for if judges voted for results merely because they privately struck the judges as desirable, the Court would overstep its jurisdiction and set the country on the path to Krytocracy.[1]
A krytocracy should be contrasted with a kritarchy. Both are governments ruled by judges, but the difference lies in how judgements are arrived at. Judgements in a krytocracy are arrived at by the personal opinions of the judge, whereas judgements in a kritarchy are arrived at by judging whether a person's natural rights have been violated.
Examples
- Biblical (pre-Saul) Israel
- Medieval Sardinia
- Somalia under the Islamic Courts Union
References
- ^ Mr. Justice Reed and Brown v. The Board of Education by John B. Fassett, published by the Supreme Court Historical Society.
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