Word: legalism
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1940-1949
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Illegal evidence could be legally introduced in state trials, said the majority, in any state whose laws do not specifically outlaw it. If words mean what they say (a proviso that Justice Felix Frankfurter has sometimes disputed), the majority seemed to be saying that the protection of the Fourth Amendment does not extend to all citizens. The decision left 30 of the 48 states free to use the evidence that has to be tossed out of all federal courts. To compound the confusion, Justice Frankfurter added one more helpful remark to the majority opinion: if a state passes...
...impassioned oratory, the party agreed that it must proceed carefully so as not to lose its legal standing. One speaker defined the party's task: "To dream of a perfect, serene, ideal world preceded by years of torment and contemplation of spiritual ideals." Despite its recent gains, M.S.I, was still more notable for dreaming than action...
Surely, such a miscarriage of justice as occurred in the courtroom at Plymouth could not happen in America. Daily we read of such events in Communist countries where [murderers] go scot free because of their warped legal system...
...University of Chicago's Robert M. Hutchins could see nothing but harm coming from this "cloak-and-stiletto work . . . [It] will not merely mean that many persons will suffer for acts that they did not commit, or for acts that were legal when committed, or for no acts at all. Far worse is the end result, which will be that critics, even of the mildest sort, will be frightened into silence . . ." Loyalty oaths for teachers are utterly useless, said Hutchins, "for teachers who are disloyal will certainly be dishonest; they will not shrink from a little perjury...
...Harvard Law School's Thomas Reed Powell, 69, testy expert on the U.S. Constitution. A stout man with a bristling mustache, Vermonter Powell was a pitiless and unpredictable examination marker. Known among legal scholars as the "dean of constitutional law," he was once asked whether he would take a Massachusetts teachers' oath to support the Constitution. "Certainly," replied Powell. "It has been supporting me for the last 25 years...