Learned Hand Quotes

If we are to keep our democracy, there must be one commandment: 'Thou shalt not ration justice.'

This country does not punish its political enemies. What this country ensures is that no one is above the law.

When I was a prosecutor in Kansas City, my job was to fight for justice and safety for all citizens in my community. Equal access to justice under the law is an American value embedded in the fabric of our legal and political system - the idea that anybody, powerful or not, can have their day in court.

The state of law is equal for all people. It cannot depend on electoral politics.

My father thought, and now I think too, that the system of democracy is entirely based upon the system of justice. If we do not have a system of justice that people believe in, the system of democracy will fail.

Our criminal justice system was designed to be fair and is the fairest system known to man.

Justice in this country is an insurance policy. It’s not something that we’re supposed to get sometimes.

To threaten the institution is to threaten fair administration of justice and protection of liberty.

Laws must be clear, precise, and uniform for all citizens.

The acid test of any legal system is not the greatness or the grandeur of its ideal concepts, but whether, in fact, it is able to produce order and justice.

Delay in justice is injustice.

If I am not above the law, nobody in this country can then claim to be above the law.

A fair judicial system takes time to work.

If everyone on the Court always voted for the prosecution against the defendant, for the corporation against the plaintiffs, and for the government against the condemned, a vital spark of American democracy would be extinguished.

We've got an outstanding justice system. Our judiciary are respected around the world. It is a key part of what we are as a country. It's an area where there is a strong political consensus behind that and perhaps in an era of populism it's important that we preserve those qualities.

I just want to believe that, as a citizen in this country, that I have equal protection under the law and that I can have a situation assessed fairly, that people can look at it, and that a court of law can determine what the outcome is.

I simply apply the law fairly and equally to all our citizens.

Equal justice under law is not merely a caption on the facade of the Supreme Court building, it is perhaps the most inspiring ideal of our society. It is one of the ends for which our entire legal system exists...it is fundamental that justice should be the same, in substance and availability, without regard to economic status.

Justice, not the majority, should rule.

It is a different world and they [the Supreme Court] should speak for justice, not prejudice.... I seek justice, not in some distant tomorrow, not in some study commission, but now while I Iive.

The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced.

But one way or another, judges perform a very vital function in our society. They have a risky job and they are entitled to security.

And it is no less true, that personal security and private property rest entirely upon the wisdom, the stability, and the integrity of the courts of justice.

As long as we can get redress in the courts, as long as the laws shall be honestly administered, as long as honesty and intelligence sit upon the bench, as long as intelligence sits in the chairs of jurors, this country will stand, the law will be enforced, and the law will be respected.

Yes, people need food and education. But one of the cornerstones of any society is a well-functioning legal system.