Page:The Wisconsin idea (IA cu31924032449252).pdf/264

 law schools. It may be that with a few scientific tools in the hands of our legislators, we may find a way out of the difficulty. It may be that we can build up a code of law which may be taught in real law schools, so that they will produce men who will go to the bench believing in some other maxim than "What is, is."

The ridiculous assumption of fatherhood and protectorship which some American judges, in their pomposity, have attained, makes itself felt not only in the courts but in the attitude of practically every lawyer who comes to the legislative halls. It has been the means of retarding the march of progress in legislation and of establishing into the body of our government certain fallacies which have been a real and potential danger to the whole fabric of the state.

Take for example the power of the attorney-general in many states. This official in our state is elected in the same manner as other state officials. Suppose that he is opposed to some law and wishes to remove it from the statute books. The only step necessary is to have the law submitted to him for an opinion and he can declare it unconstitutional.

The supreme court itself has more limitations, in that it must at least have a case presented before it can hold hearings or render a decision. The attorney-general alone has the remarkable power of despatching a law put upon the statute books by the will of the people or