We dedicated ourselves to a powerful idea - organic law rather than naked power. There seems to be universal acceptance of that idea in the nation.
Potter StewartRead
To force a lawyer on a defendant can only lead him to believe that the law contrives against him.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Imposing legal representation on someone can create distrust in the legal system.
This quote underscores the idea that when a lawyer is mandated for a defendant, it may foster a sense of alienation or opposition to the legal process. The defendant may view the imposition of legal counsel as a signal that the law is not on their side, potentially leading to a lack of trust and cooperation with the legal proceedings.
Themes
LawJusticeDefendantTrustRepresentation
In practice
Example use cases
In a legal workshop discussing the rights of defendants, this quote can illustrate the importance of voluntary representation.
More from Potter Stewart
All quotes βEthics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.
Potter StewartRead
A person's mere propinquity to others independently suspected of criminal activity does not give rise to probable cause to search that person.
Potter StewartRead
It must always be remembered that what the Constitution forbids is not all searches and seizures, but unreasonable searches and seizures.
Potter StewartRead
Swift justice demands more than just swiftness.
Potter StewartRead
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
Similar quotes
The agreement of the parties cannot make that good which the law maketh void.
Edward CokeRead
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 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.
David SouterRead
Litigation is the pursuit of practical ends, not a game of chess.
Felix FrankfurterRead
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
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