The Supreme Court Justice and "Boring" Cases

Authors

Neil M. Richards, Washington University in St. Louis School of LawFollow

Document Type

Essay

Publication Date

2001

Publication Title

The Green Bag 2D

Abstract

This is a short essay discussing the phenomenon of boring cases at the Supreme Court. It examines two letters written by Supreme Court Justices to sick colleagues–a 1903 letter from Chief Justice E.D. White to William Day, and a 1941 letter from William O. Douglas to Hugo Black. The essay argues that one true and underappreciated measure of the worth of a Supreme Court Justice is not merely their ability to be (or at least appear to be) brilliant in the once-a-decade blockbuster cases. Instead, in selecting Supreme Court Justices, we should look just as much at their ability to work diligently on the vast majority of the cases which make up the Supreme Court's docket–including boring ones.

Keywords

Supreme Court, Legal History, Boring Cases, Tax, Nominations

Publication Citation

Neil M. Richards, The Supreme Court Justice and “Boring” Cases, 4 The Green Bag 2D 401 (2001)

Repository Citation

Richards, Neil M., "The Supreme Court Justice and "Boring" Cases" (2001). Scholarship@WashULaw. 546.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_scholarship/546