"The petitioner's problem is to avoid Scylla without being drawn into Charybdis"
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Jackson’s line borrows from Homer to make legal strategy sound like sea navigation, which is exactly the point: petitioning the Court isn’t an exercise in pure logic so much as a high-stakes route through dangers that are visible, named, and unforgiving. Scylla and Charybdis aren’t generic “obstacles.” They’re paired threats that force a choice under constraint: hug one side and you risk being devoured; drift the other way and you’re swallowed whole. The brilliance is how neatly that maps onto appellate advocacy, where avoiding one doctrinal hazard often means triggering another.
As a statesman-lawyer (and a justice known for a prosecutorial clarity), Jackson is signaling something about power and the judiciary’s limits. A petitioner is rarely asking for “justice” in the abstract; they’re asking for a rule. Push too hard for a sweeping principle and you invite backlash, bad precedent, or an opinion that narrows your win into meaninglessness. Argue too narrowly and you risk irrelevance: the Court may dismiss the claim as fact-bound, waive the broader issue, or uphold the status quo without touching your grievance. The subtext is almost admonitory: if you want the Court to steer, you must give it room to steer.
Historically, Jackson’s era is saturated with this dilemma. The mid-century Court was negotiating the reach of federal power, civil liberties, and postwar legitimacy. His metaphor captures the institutional anxiety of that moment: the law must move, but it can’t lurch. Petitioners, like sailors, survive by respecting the currents.
As a statesman-lawyer (and a justice known for a prosecutorial clarity), Jackson is signaling something about power and the judiciary’s limits. A petitioner is rarely asking for “justice” in the abstract; they’re asking for a rule. Push too hard for a sweeping principle and you invite backlash, bad precedent, or an opinion that narrows your win into meaninglessness. Argue too narrowly and you risk irrelevance: the Court may dismiss the claim as fact-bound, waive the broader issue, or uphold the status quo without touching your grievance. The subtext is almost admonitory: if you want the Court to steer, you must give it room to steer.
Historically, Jackson’s era is saturated with this dilemma. The mid-century Court was negotiating the reach of federal power, civil liberties, and postwar legitimacy. His metaphor captures the institutional anxiety of that moment: the law must move, but it can’t lurch. Petitioners, like sailors, survive by respecting the currents.
Quote Details
| Topic | Decision-Making |
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