If we are to keep our democracy, there must be one commandment: Thou shalt not ration justice.
– Learned Hand, 1872-1961, U.S. judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2d Circuit, 1924-1951, chief judge after 1939 to retirement; “Thou Shalt Not Ration Justice,” 1951.
Stumble It!
July 13, 2007 at 1:36 pm
check out my web blogs
http://judgelearnedhand.blogsot.com
July 11, 2007 at 4:35 am
A bit OT perhaps, but here is a good reminder from the past about a different American, Wisconsin Senator Laffolette.
http://www.fightingbob.com/aboutbob.cfm
The Roosevelt/La Follette split grew more pronounced five years later, as the nation prepared to enter World War I. While Roosevelt urged U.S. participation in the war–the position supported by the nation’s political establishment–La Follette emerged as the leading foe of a war he described as a scheme to line the pockets of the corporations he had fought so bitterly as a governor and Senator.
La Follette personally held up the declaration of war for twenty-four hours by refusing unanimous consent to Senate resolutions. From the Senate floor, La Follette argued: “We should not seek [to] inflame the mind of our people by half truths into the frenzy of war.” He painted the impending conflict as a war that would benefit the wealthy of the world but not the workers, who would have to fight it. And he warned: “The poor . . . who are always the ones called upon to rot in the trenches have no organized power. . . . But oh, Mr. President, at some time they will be heard. . . . There will come an awakening. They will have their day, and they will be heard.”
More on Laffolette.
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5017