这篇文章展示了法律是如何随着社会的变化而发展和变化的。在二战后的夏威夷，这种演变在最近有关河岸水权学说的司法裁决中尤为明显。作者将这一趋势分为三个阶段:基于判例的普通法解释、普通法的分拆和政策导向的决策。三项司法裁决被用来说明这三个阶段的概念。

This article shows how the law grows and changes as society changes. In post-World War II Hawaii, this evolution is particularly evident in recent judicial rulings relating to the riparian doctrine of water rights. The author classifies the trend into three phases: interpretation of common law based on precedents, fractionalization of common law, and policy-oriented decision making. Three judicial rulings are used to illustrate the three-phase concept.