Tacitus Quotes

Stare decisis is the policy of the court to stand by precedent;  the term is but an abbreviation of “stare decisis et non quieta movere”--to stand by and adhere to decisions and not disturb what is settled.

The best interpreter of the law is custom.

Law is largely crystallized custom.

I entirely differ with the Government as to the value of precedents. In this case, as in others, precedents are not mere dusty phrases, which do not substantially affect the question before us. A precedent embalms a principle.

The life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience.

Mere precedent is a dangerous source of authority.

It seems to me that stare decisis ought to be applied even to the doctrine of stare decisis, and I confess never to have heard of this new, keep-what-you-want-and-throw-away-the-rest version.

One precedent creates another and they soon accumulate and constitute law. What yesterday was a fact, today is doctrine.

A precedent embalms a principle.

How long soever it hath continued, if it be against reason, it is of no force in law.

One precedent creates another. They soon accumulate and constitute law. What yesterday was fact, today is doctrine.

If a Statute make use of a Word the meaning of which is well-known at the Common Law, such word shall be taken in the same Sense it was understood at the common Law.

Bad facts make bad law.

I always look for judges who respect precedent.

A precedent provides legal authority for an action precisely because it occurred before.

It is the merit of the common law that it decides the case first and determines the principles afterward.

... legislating to regulate cultural change is like lassoing a locomotive with a cobweb.

Logic is a poor guide compared with custom.

The standards of the past are not the standards of the future.

Great cases like hard cases make bad law.

Law is not a science, but is essentially empirical.

When Congress writes a good law, then there are fewer lawsuits trying to interpret it.

The base that Marshall built in law, and in tradition, transcends his life and animates the rest of American history. Part of the genius of John Marshall, is that in a very real sense, he invented the Supreme Court.

We need not be prisoners of our history.

It makes courts rely on federal and state law when deciding cases. It forbids courts from considering or using international law. It forbids courts from considering or using Sharia Law. It makes courts rely on federal and state law when deciding cases. It forbids courts from considering or using international law. It forbids courts from considering or using Sharia Law.