"the law is an ass" meaning in English

{
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "the law is an ass",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "the law is an ass",
      "name": "en-proverb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English proverbs",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Law",
          "orig": "en:Law",
          "parents": [
            "Justice",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1654, attributed to George Chapman but probably Henry Glapthorne, Revenge for Honour",
          "text": "Ere he shall lose an eye for such a trifle... For doing deeds of nature! I'm ashamed. The law is such an ass.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1838, Charles Dickens, chapter 61, in Oliver Twist",
          "text": "\"If the law supposes that,\" said Mr. Bumble, squeezing his hat emphatically in both hands, \"the law is a ass—a idiot.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1917, Henry De Vere Stacpoole, chapter 29, in The Man Who Lost Himself",
          "text": "I'm not one of those who think the Law is an ass, no, there's a great deal of common sense in the Law of England.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1994 May 14, James Cusick, “Loophole gives knifeman freedom”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 2014-07-18",
          "text": "Mr Bell said: \"The law is an ass. It is a shocking situation when a dangerous criminal can walk free by evading recapture for a month.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013 July 16, Kathleen Parker, “Unanswered questions in Trayvon Martin case”, in Washington Post, retrieved 2014-07-18",
          "text": "[N]o matter the legal definitions that guided them, it seems impossible that someone’s young son, guilty of nothing, should die while his killer walks. Adages become such for a reason: The law is an ass.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The law, as created by legislators or as administered by the justice system, cannot be relied upon to be sensible or fair."
      ],
      "id": "en-the_law_is_an_ass-en-proverb-qObbxMlo",
      "links": [
        [
          "legislator",
          "legislator"
        ],
        [
          "justice",
          "justice"
        ],
        [
          "relied",
          "rely"
        ],
        [
          "sensible",
          "sensible"
        ],
        [
          "fair",
          "fair"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "the law is a ass"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "note": "зако́н — что ды́шло: куда́ повернёшь, туда́ и вы́шло (zakón — što dýšlo: kudá povernjóšʹ, tudá i výšlo) (law is like a shaft of the cart^ goes wherever you turn it)",
          "sense": "law cannot be trusted to be sensible or fair"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "english": "there's no truth in the court of law",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "v sudé právdy net",
          "sense": "law cannot be trusted to be sensible or fair",
          "word": "в суде́ пра́вды нет"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "the law is an ass"
}

{
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      "expansion": "the law is an ass",
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      "args": {},
      "expansion": "the law is an ass",
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  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
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        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English proverbs",
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        "en:Law"
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1654, attributed to George Chapman but probably Henry Glapthorne, Revenge for Honour",
          "text": "Ere he shall lose an eye for such a trifle... For doing deeds of nature! I'm ashamed. The law is such an ass.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1838, Charles Dickens, chapter 61, in Oliver Twist",
          "text": "\"If the law supposes that,\" said Mr. Bumble, squeezing his hat emphatically in both hands, \"the law is a ass—a idiot.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1917, Henry De Vere Stacpoole, chapter 29, in The Man Who Lost Himself",
          "text": "I'm not one of those who think the Law is an ass, no, there's a great deal of common sense in the Law of England.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1994 May 14, James Cusick, “Loophole gives knifeman freedom”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 2014-07-18",
          "text": "Mr Bell said: \"The law is an ass. It is a shocking situation when a dangerous criminal can walk free by evading recapture for a month.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013 July 16, Kathleen Parker, “Unanswered questions in Trayvon Martin case”, in Washington Post, retrieved 2014-07-18",
          "text": "[N]o matter the legal definitions that guided them, it seems impossible that someone’s young son, guilty of nothing, should die while his killer walks. Adages become such for a reason: The law is an ass.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The law, as created by legislators or as administered by the justice system, cannot be relied upon to be sensible or fair."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "legislator",
          "legislator"
        ],
        [
          "justice",
          "justice"
        ],
        [
          "relied",
          "rely"
        ],
        [
          "sensible",
          "sensible"
        ],
        [
          "fair",
          "fair"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "the law is a ass"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "note": "зако́н — что ды́шло: куда́ повернёшь, туда́ и вы́шло (zakón — što dýšlo: kudá povernjóšʹ, tudá i výšlo) (law is like a shaft of the cart^ goes wherever you turn it)",
      "sense": "law cannot be trusted to be sensible or fair"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "english": "there's no truth in the court of law",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "v sudé právdy net",
      "sense": "law cannot be trusted to be sensible or fair",
      "word": "в суде́ пра́вды нет"
    }
  ],
  "word": "the law is an ass"
}