Distinguish

Distinguish

In law, to distinguish a case means to contrast the facts of the case before the court from the facts of a case of precedent where there is an apparent similarity. By successfully distinguishing a case, the holding or legal reasoning of the earlier case will either not apply or will be limited. There are two formal constraints on the later court: the factors in the ratio of the earlier case must be retained in formulating the ratio of the later case, and the ruling in the later case must still support the result reached in the precedent case.

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Famous quotes containing the word distinguish:

    Who can distinguish darkness from the soul?
    William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)

    Our language has wisely sensed these two sides of man’s being alone. It has created the word “loneliness” to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word “solitude” to express the glory of being alone. Although, in daily life, we do not always distinguish these words, we should do so consistently and thus deepen our understanding of our human predicament.
    Paul Tillich (1886–1965)

    People find ideas a bore because they do not distinguish between live ones and stuffed ones on a shelf.
    Ezra Pound (1885–1972)