Skip to main content

Legal Systems Orthodoxy

The established, institutionalized set of beliefs about law that dominate legal education, practice, and discourse—the often-unexamined assumptions that law is neutral, that courts are independent, that legal reasoning is distinct from politics, that rights protect freedom, that the rule of law is inherently good, and that current legal arrangements are fundamentally just. Legal systems orthodoxy includes specific commitments: that judges apply law rather than make it, that legal procedures ensure fairness, that legal rights empower the powerless, that the adversarial system produces truth, that legal evolution is progress. Like all orthodoxies, it provides a framework for legal understanding, but it functions as ideology—making legal arrangements seem natural and just, obscuring how law serves power, and delegitimizing critiques of law's role in maintaining inequality. Legal systems orthodoxy determines what legal arguments are considered "sound," what legal arrangements are "just," and who counts as a "serious" legal thinker versus a radical critic.
Example: "She suggested that law might systematically serve ruling class interests—and was dismissed as 'not understanding how law works.' Legal systems orthodoxy doesn't allow questioning of law's neutrality; it's treated as axiomatic rather than contestable."
Legal Systems Orthodoxy mug front
Get the Legal Systems Orthodoxy mug.
See more merch
well known from south park
rednecks get angrry that future folk took there jobs so they yell
They took ouare jerbs!
Them future folk took ouare jerbs!
jerb by Jimberley Kim April 7, 2005
Word of the Day on May 22, 2026
An Irish phrase meaning shit, derived from ass
(Not to be confused with the literal description of one's buttocks)
"Did you hear the song Aylek$ dropped?"
"Hardly. Her music is absolute cheeks."

"My boyfriend say LaFlame is cheeks."
"Tell your boyfriend I said it's his mixtape that's cheeks."
Cheeks by thecartisan April 26, 2020
Word of the Day on May 21, 2026

sans sheriff 

Lawless use of fonts or typography, with no regard to aesthetics or legibility
I'm putting this CV straight in the bin. Written totally sans sheriff.
sans sheriff by Jamarley July 3, 2019
Word of the Day on May 20, 2026

Breadhead 

Someone who is addicted to obtaining money and building wealth. A money addict and fanatic. Breadheads often work more than one full-time job, and some even participate in illicit activities to "obtain the bread".
A breadhead is like a crackhead, but for money instead of crack.
Breadhead by 🅱️ U S 3 4 8 March 30, 2022
Word of the Day on May 19, 2026

Stink lines

As seen in illustrations or cartoons: Wavy, vertical lines rising above a person, place or thing. Denotes a foul odor.
"You didn't put enough stink lines on your picture of the teacher."
Stink lines by Athene Airheart March 14, 2004
Word of the Day on May 18, 2026

schmegegge 

Yiddish slang word meaning bullshit, baloney, hogwash, nonsense, crock of shit or hot air.
I don't buy the schmegegge about Morty sleeping with Moira.
His version of the story was pure schmegegge.
The whole schmegegge was made up to get Liz a little bit of attention.
schmegegge by budsbabe February 1, 2008
Word of the Day on May 16, 2026