Dissent of Justice Brandeis, Olmstead v. United States: [View all]

[malthaussen]

"Our Government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. To declare that, in the administration of the criminal law, the end justifies the means -- to declare that the Government may commit crimes in order to secure the conviction of a private criminal -- would bring terrible retribution. Against that pernicious doctrine this Court should resolutely set its face."

Olmstead v. United States was argued in 1928! The above is an excerpt from the dissent of Mr Justice Brandeis to the USSC ruling against the plaintiff. For the curious, here is a link to the full dissent:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0277_0438_ZD.html

"If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law..." we haven't seen much of that since 1928, have we?

-- Mal