Social purpose
Encyclopedia
Within the context of law, social purpose is a scheme of statutory construction declaring that a statute should not be construed in a way that would violate normal societal values or good. Example of cases in which this rule of construction was used include Riggs v. Palmer
and Holy Trinity Church v. United States.
.
Riggs v. Palmer
Riggs v. Palmer, 115 N.Y. 506 , is an important New York state civil court case, in which the Court of Appeals of New York issued an 1889 opinion. Riggs was an example of the judiciary using the "social purpose" rule of statutory construction, the process of interpreting and applying...
and Holy Trinity Church v. United States.
.