John Marshall Harlan II: Function

John Marshall Harlan II was American judge and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1899-1971). Explore interesting quotes on function.
John Marshall Harlan II: 18   quotes 0   likes

“These decisions give support to a current mistaken view of the Constitution and the constitutional function of this court. This view, in short, is that every major social ill in this country can find its cure in some constitutional principle and that this court should take the lead in promoting reform when other branches of government fail to act. The Constitution is not a panacea for every blot upon the public welfare nor should this court, ordained as a judicial body, be thought of as a general haven of reform movements.”

John Marshall Harlan II

Dissenting in Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 589 (1964).

Support , Decision , Country

“Without this guarantee that one may not be deprived of his rights, neither liberty nor property, without due process of law, the State's monopoly over techniques for binding conflict resolution could hardly be said to be acceptable under our scheme of things. Only by providing that the social enforcement mechanism must function strictly within these bounds can we hope to maintain an ordered society that is also just.”

John Marshall Harlan II

Boddie v. Connecticut, 401 U.S. 371, 374-75 (1971).

Law , Hope

“This Court, limited in function in accordance with that premise, does not serve its high purpose when it exceeds its authority, even to satisfy justified impatience with the slow workings of the political process. For when, in the name of constitutional interpretation, the Court adds something to the Constitution that was deliberately excluded from it, the Court, in reality, substitutes its view of what should be so for the amending process.”

John Marshall Harlan II

Dissenting in Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 624-25 (1964).

Reality

“His thinking threw light in a very introspective way on the entire process of the judicial function. His decisions, beyond just the vote they represented, were sufficiently philosophical to be of enduring interest. He decided the case before him with that respect for its particulars, its special features, that marks alike the honest artist and the just judge.”

John Marshall Harlan II

Paul Freund, The Judges' Judge http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,877560,00.html, Time Magazine (June 10, 1972).
About Harlan

Way , Decision , Thinking , Light