Ο δικαστής, ακόμη και όταν είναι ελεύθερος, δεν είναι τελείως ελεύθερος. Δεν μπορεί να καινοτομεί όπως και όταν του αρέσει. Δεν είναι ένας περιπλανώμ… - Benjamin N. Cardozo

It comes down to this. There are certain forms of conduct which at any given place and epoch are commonly accepted under the combined influence of reason, practice and tradition, as moral or immoral. … Law accepts as the pattern of its justice the morality of the community whose conduct it assumes to regulate. In saying this, we are not to blind ourselves to the truth that uncertainty is far from banished. Morality is not merely different in different communities. Its level is not the same for all the component groups within the same community. A choice must still be made between one group standard and another. We have still to face the problem, at which one of these levels does the social pressure become strong enough to convert the moral norm into a jural one? All that we can say is that the line will be higher than the lowest level of moral principle and practice, and lower than the highest. The law will not hold the crowd to the morality of saints and seers. It will follow, or strive to follow, the principle and practice of the men and women of the community whom the social mind would rank as intelligent and virtuous.

I am ready to concede that the rule of adherence to precedent, though it ought not to be abandoned, ought to be in some degree relaxed. I think that when a rule, after it has been duly tested by experience, has been found to be inconsistent with the sense of justice or with the social welfare, there should be less hesitation in frank avowal and full abandonment. … That court best serves the law which recognizes that the rules of law which grew up in a remote generation may, in the fullness of experience, be found to serve another generation badly, and which discards the old rule when it finds that another rule of law represents what should be according to the established and settled judgment of society.

Ο δικαστής, ακόμη και όταν είναι ελεύθερος, δεν είναι τελείως ελεύθερος. Δεν μπορεί να καινοτομεί όπως και όταν του αρέσει. Δεν είναι ένας περιπλανώμενος ιππότης που αναζητεί το δικό του ιδανικό της ομορφιάς και της καλοσύνης. Είναι υποχρεωμένος να αντλεί την έμπνευσή του μέσα απο τις καθιερωμένες αρχές. Δεν πρέπει να ενδίδει σε σπασμωδικά συναισθήματα, σε μια αόριστη διάθεση ευσπλαχνίας. Είναι υποχρεωμένος να ασκεί μια διακριτική εξουσία, προσδιορισμένη από την παράδοση, μεθοδευμένη από την αναλογία, πειθαρχημένη από το σύστημα και υποκείμενη στην πρωταρχική ανάγκη της τάξης στην κοινωνική ζωή