Do Great Cases Make Bad Law?
Lackland H. Bloom, Jr.
Abstract
In one of the most quoted statements in American law, Justice Holmes proclaimed that “great cases, like hard cases make bad law.” He explained that this was so because the “hydraulic pressures” of the great case tend to distort the judgments of the justices. By great cases, Holmes seemed to mean those cases that come before the Supreme Court from time to time and capture the attention of the public placing the Court in the vortex of some current public controversy. The purpose of this book is to examine twenty-five great cases that arose throughout the history of the Supreme Court and attempt ... More
In one of the most quoted statements in American law, Justice Holmes proclaimed that “great cases, like hard cases make bad law.” He explained that this was so because the “hydraulic pressures” of the great case tend to distort the judgments of the justices. By great cases, Holmes seemed to mean those cases that come before the Supreme Court from time to time and capture the attention of the public placing the Court in the vortex of some current public controversy. The purpose of this book is to examine twenty-five great cases that arose throughout the history of the Supreme Court and attempt to determine whether Holmes was correct. More particularly, the book discusses the impact that the greatness of the case may have had on its presentation to the Court, the Court’s deliberations, the decision, the opinion and the law that was created. The book discusses many of the great cases throughout the Court’s history including Marbury v Madison, Dred Scott, Brown v Board of Education, Roe v Wade, United States v Nixon and Bush v Gore. The cases are placed in their historical context. The opinions are analysed in detail. The impact of the cases on society and constitutional law is evaluated. The final chapter applies four criteria to determine to what extent the greatness of the case did affect the decision and opinion. Ultimately, the book concludes that while the greatness of the case has from time to time produced bad law, that has not generally been so.
Keywords:
great case,
bad law,
opinion,
Supreme Court,
Holmes,
historical context,
deliberation,
decision
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2014 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780199765881 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: April 2014 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199765881.001.0001 |
