"Swift justice demands more than just swiftness"
About this Quote
“Swift justice” is one of those phrases that sounds inherently virtuous until Potter Stewart quietly pulls the rug out from under it. The line works because it treats speed not as a virtue but as a temptation: an easy metric that politicians, prosecutors, and even courts can point to when they want to look decisive. Stewart’s insistence that “more than just swiftness” is required is a judicial warning against confusing efficiency with legitimacy.
Coming from a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, the subtext is procedural and constitutional. American law prizes due process precisely because the state’s power is so lopsided; speeding up the machinery can mean shaving off the very safeguards that make outcomes trustworthy. Stewart is signaling that delay can be corrosive, but haste can be catastrophic. “Demands” matters here: he’s not praising leisurely deliberation, he’s describing a standard that’s harder than a stopwatch. Real justice asks for accuracy, fairness, and transparency, even when that frustrates the public appetite for closure.
The context is a mid-20th-century legal culture wrestling with the promises and burdens of modern constitutional criminal procedure: expanding rights for defendants, managing clogged dockets, and confronting moments of public panic where “do something now” becomes the loudest argument. Stewart’s sentence is a compact rebuke to the idea that the courts exist to deliver emotional satisfaction on schedule. If justice is rushed, it risks becoming theater; if it’s careful, it earns authority.
Coming from a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, the subtext is procedural and constitutional. American law prizes due process precisely because the state’s power is so lopsided; speeding up the machinery can mean shaving off the very safeguards that make outcomes trustworthy. Stewart is signaling that delay can be corrosive, but haste can be catastrophic. “Demands” matters here: he’s not praising leisurely deliberation, he’s describing a standard that’s harder than a stopwatch. Real justice asks for accuracy, fairness, and transparency, even when that frustrates the public appetite for closure.
The context is a mid-20th-century legal culture wrestling with the promises and burdens of modern constitutional criminal procedure: expanding rights for defendants, managing clogged dockets, and confronting moments of public panic where “do something now” becomes the loudest argument. Stewart’s sentence is a compact rebuke to the idea that the courts exist to deliver emotional satisfaction on schedule. If justice is rushed, it risks becoming theater; if it’s careful, it earns authority.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
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