The Claim of Judicial Finality in the United States: A Popular Theory that Lacks Evidence
- Louis Fisher
- Nov 22, 2022
- 34 min read
Updated: Jun 2
In law schools as well as political science and history classes, students are generally taught that when the Supreme Court decides a constitutional issue it delivers the final word unless the Court changes its position. That is the prominent theory. In 1953, Justice Robert Jackson promoted the doctrine of judicial finality by making a statement that is often cited: ‘We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final’.[1] Perhaps a clever and witty turn of phrase but it advances a claim unsupported by facts.
