“The duty to disclose knowledge of crime rests upon all citizens.” CrimeDutyCitizens Author:Robert H. Jackson
“Government of limited power need not be anemic government. Assurance that rights are secure tends to diminish fear and jealousy of strong government, and by making us feel safe to live under it makes for its better support.” NeedsFeelsGovernmentStrongSupportRightsSafeSecureDiminishAssuranceStrong Government Author:Robert H. Jackson
“The just is close to the people's heart, but the merciful is close to the heart of God.” PeopleHeartAppreciationMercifulMerciful God Author:Khalil Gibran
“We set up government by consent of the governed, and the Bill of Rights denies those in power any legal opportunity to coerce that consent. Authority here is to be controlled by public opinion, not public opinion by authority.” GovernmentOpportunityOpinionRightsAuthorityBillsDenyControlledConsentPublic OpinionBill Of RightsCoerceConsent Of The Governed Author:Robert H. Jackson
“If we can cultivate in the world the idea that aggressive war-making is the way to the prisoner's dock rather than the way to honors, we will have accomplished something toward making the peace more secure.” IfsWorldWayIdeasWarHonorSecureAccomplishedPrisonerAggressiveDocks Author:Robert H. Jackson
“Our people do not want barren theories from their democracy. Maury Maverick has expressed very quaintly, but clearly, what they really want when he says: 'We Americans want to talk, pray, think as we please and eat regular'.” PeopleThinkingWantDemocracyTheoryPrayingPleaseBarrenMaverickMaury Author:Robert H. Jackson
“Not every defeat of authority is a gain for individual freedom, nor every judicial rescue of a convict a victory for liberty.” IndividualLibertyVictoryAuthorityGainsDefeatRescueJudicialConvictsIndividual Freedom Author:Robert H. Jackson
“But an escape less self-depreciating was taken by Lord Westbury, who, it is said, rebuffed a barrister's reliance upon an earlier opinion of his Lordship: "I can only say that I am amazed that a man of my intelligence should have been guilty of giving such an opinion". If there are other ways of gracefully and good-naturedly surrendering former views to a better considered position, I invoke them all.” IfsMenWayGivingShouldHas BeensSaidI CanSelfViewsLordOpinionTakenPositionShould HaveGuiltyFormerAmazedRelianceShould Have BeenInvokeLordshipBarristers Author:Robert H. Jackson
“Reversal by a higher court is not proof that justice is thereby better done. There is no doubt that if there were a super-Supreme Court, a substantial proportion of our reversals of state courts would also be reversed. We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final.” IfsStatesDoneJusticeDoubtHigherCourtFinalsProofSupremeNo DoubtProportionSupreme CourtInfallibleReversal Author:Robert H. Jackson
“Of course, such judicial misconstruction theoretically can be cured by constitutional amendment. But the period of gestation of a constitutional amendment, or of any law reform, is reckoned in decades usually; in years, at least. And, after all, as the Court itself asserted in overruling the minimum-wage cases, it may not be the Constitution that was at fault.” YearsMayLawCoursesCasesPeriodsConstitutionCourtFaultsDecadesReformAmendmentsMinimumJudicialMinimum WageConstitutional AmendmentsGestationGestation Period Author:Robert H. Jackson