The Often Ridiculous Nature of Public Policy and Its Analysis: Why It Is So Important to Allow for Ridicule and to Consider the Ridiculous

THE TRADITION OF THE HIGHER LAW One of the time-honored techniques for reforming public policies is to espouse a belief in a higher law-the notion that no matter what the laws (the policies) of a state are, there remains a higher law, to which a person has an even greater obligation. A higher law is often appealed to by those who wish to attack an existing law or practice that courts or legislators are unlikely or unwilling to change. Martyrs throughout the ages have asserted a higher law in defiance of the state, thus earning their martyrdom. Because the courts of any state will enforce the law of the land, appealing to a higher law is always chancy.