“We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final.”

— Robert H. Jackson

Brown v. Allen, 344 U.S. 443, 540 (1953) (concurring)
Judicial opinions
Context: 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.

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Robert H. Jackson 96

American judge 1892–1954

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“We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final.”

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