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Constitutional theory2 quotes
The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials, and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts. One's right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections. — Robert H. Jackson · 1943There 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. — Robert H. Jackson · 1953Criminal law2 quotes
The common sense of mankind demands that law shall not stop with the punishment of petty crimes by little people. It must also reach men who posses themselves of great power and make deliberate and concerted use of it to set in motion evils which leave no home in the world untouched. — Robert H. Jackson · 1945The first trial in history for crimes against the peace of the world imposes a grave responsibility. The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated. — Robert H. Jackson · 1945The Holocaust2 quotes
If you were to say of these men that they are not guilty, it would be as true to say there has been no war, there are no slain, there has been no crime. — Robert H. Jackson · 1946The first trial in history for crimes against the peace of the world imposes a grave responsibility. The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated. — Robert H. Jackson · 1945Accountability1 quote
If you were to say of these men that they are not guilty, it would be as true to say there has been no war, there are no slain, there has been no crime. — Robert H. Jackson · 1946Bill of Rights1 quote
The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials, and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts. One's right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections. — Robert H. Jackson · 1943Citizen and state1 quote
It is not the function of our Government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the Government from falling into error. — Robert H. Jackson · 1950Constitutional law1 quote
If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion, or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. — Robert H. Jackson · 1943Dissent1 quote
If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion, or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. — Robert H. Jackson · 1943Freedom of religion1 quote
The day that this country ceases to be free for irreligion, it will cease to be free for religion—except for the sect that can win political power. — Robert H. Jackson · 1952Freedom of thought1 quote
If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion, or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. — Robert H. Jackson · 1943Judicial supremacy1 quote
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. — Robert H. Jackson · 1953Legal theory1 quote
The common sense of mankind demands that law shall not stop with the punishment of petty crimes by little people. It must also reach men who posses themselves of great power and make deliberate and concerted use of it to set in motion evils which leave no home in the world untouched. — Robert H. Jackson · 1945Magnanimity in war1 quote
That four great nations, flushed with victory and stung with injury stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgment of the law is one of the most significant tributes that Power has ever paid to Reason. — Robert H. Jackson · 1945Role of government1 quote
It is not the function of our Government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the Government from falling into error. — Robert H. Jackson · 1950War1 quote
That four great nations, flushed with victory and stung with injury stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgment of the law is one of the most significant tributes that Power has ever paid to Reason. — Robert H. Jackson · 1945World War II1 quote
That four great nations, flushed with victory and stung with injury stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgment of the law is one of the most significant tributes that Power has ever paid to Reason. — Robert H. Jackson · 1945