The rational nature of persons "constitutes the supreme limiting condition of the freedom of action of every human being" (Groundwork, 4: 431); it puts an absolute limit on how we can treat them.
This week, the supreme court limited Cunha's powers, and government supporters claim their nemesis is now a fatally weakened figure.
But it should still be possible for the supreme court to limit the use of murder by joint enterprise to cases where the secondary participant clearly foresaw – or certainly should have foreseen – that the person he was assisting or encouraging would commit murder.
In the same vein, we also observed that "the state's legislative power is the supreme authority except as limited by the constitution of the state".
The guardian council holds that the power of the supreme leader is not limited by the letter of constitution, rendering the powers of the rahbar of the Islamic republic virtually limitless.
In a landmark judgment last year, the US supreme court limited the law's reach by declaring that it cannot be used to sue foreign organisations for supposed wrongdoing on foreign soil.
He has chosen four cases to take to the supreme court to clarify the limits of the Cadder ruling.
And then, of course, there's the Citizens United v FEC decision, by which the supreme court ruled to lift limits on anonymous corporate spending on elections.
The supreme court has struck down limits on individual campaign contributions, ruling that federal caps on combined donations to candidates, parties and political action committees are an unconstitutional infringement on free speech.
Some of the more radical among them favour the direct election of the supreme leader, and would like to limit the power of the Assembly of Experts, the elected body of clerics which appoints the supreme leader and ensures that legislation conforms to Islamic principles.
The supreme court has already established a "limiting principle", which upholding the ACA would not threaten.
