The Constitution is a pantheon of values, and a lot of hard cases are hard because the Constitution gives no simple rule of decision for the cases in which one of the values is truly at odds with another.
David SouterRead
The language of the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection of the laws did not change between 1896 and 1954, and it would be very hard to say that the obvious facts on which 'Plessy' was based had changed.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The principles of equal protection under the law remained unchanged from 1896 to 1954, despite societal developments.
David Souter's quote highlights the enduring nature of the constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the law, emphasizing that the foundational principles established in the past have not transformed even though the societal context may have evolved. It underscores the argument that legal interpretations and the societal equity they promote should remain consistent over time, as the underlying injustices they address persist.
Themes
Equal ProtectionLawJusticeConstitutional RightsSociety
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about civil rights legislation.
More from David Souter
All quotes →For those whose exclusive norm of constitutional judging is merely fair reading of language applied to facts objectively viewed, 'Brown' must either be flat-out wrong or a very mystifying decision.
David SouterRead
There is a danger to judicial independence when people have no understanding of how the judiciary fits into the constitutional scheme.
David SouterRead
The Constitution is no simple contract, not because it uses a certain amount of open-ended language, but because its language grants and guarantees many good things, and good things that compete with each other and can never all be realized, altogether, all at once.
David SouterRead
Similar quotes
The hardest problems of all in law enforcement are those involving a conflict of law and local customs. History has recorded many occasions when the moral sense of a nation produced judicial decisions, such as the 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which required difficult local adjustments.
Robert KennedyRead
Lawsuits are rare and catastrophic experiences for the vast majority of men, and even when the catastrophe ensues, the controversy relates most often not to the law, but to the facts. In countless litigations, the law Is so clear that judges have no discretion.
Benjamin N. CardozoRead
Commitment to the rule of law provides a basic assurance that people can know what to expect whether what they do is popular or unpopular at the time.
Sandra Day O'ConnorRead
Reaching a conclusion has to start with what the parties are arguing, but examining in all situations carefully the facts as they prove them or not prove them, the record as they create it, and then making a decision that is limited to what the law says on the facts before the judge.
Sonia SotomayorRead
The federal statute is invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and injure those whom the state, by its marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity.
Anthony KennedyRead
The 4th Amendment and the personal rights it secures have a long history. At the very core stands the right of a man to retreat into his own home and there be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion.
Potter StewartRead