Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Quote

Courts are apt to err by sticking too closely to the words of a law where those words import a policy that goes beyond them.


Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438, 469 (1928) (Holmes, J., dissenting)


Courts are apt to err by sticking too closely to the words of a law where those words import a policy that goes beyond them.

Courts are apt to err by sticking too closely to the words of a law where those words import a policy that goes beyond them.

Courts are apt to err by sticking too closely to the words of a law where those words import a policy that goes beyond them.

Courts are apt to err by sticking too closely to the words of a law where those words import a policy that goes beyond them.