Judicial restraint is a theory of judicial interpretation that encourages judges to limit the exercise of their own power. It asserts that judges should hesitate to strike down laws unless they are obviously unconstitutional, though what counts as obviously unconstitutional is itself a matter of some debate. Judicial restraint is sometimes regarded as the opposite of judicial activism.
In deciding questions of constitutional law, judicially-restrained jurists go to great lengths to defer to the legislature. Former Associate Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., considered to be one of the first major advocates of the philosophy, would describe the importance of judicial restraint in many of his books. Former Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter, a Democrat appointed by Franklin Roosevelt, is generally seen as the "model of judicial restraint".
Judicially-restrained judges respect stare decisis, the principle of upholding established precedent handed down by past judges. When Chief Justice Rehnquist overturned some of the precedents of the Warren Court, Time magazine said he was not following the theory of judicial restraint. However, Rehnquist was also acknowledged as a more conservative advocate of the philosophy.
Famous quotes containing the words judicial and/or restraint:
“Scarcely any political question arises in the United States that is not resolved, sooner or later, into a judicial question.”
—Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)
“...he who commits adultery has no sense; he who does it destroys himself. He will get wounds and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be wiped away. For jealousy arouses a husband’s fury, and he shows no restraint when he takes revenge.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Proverbs 6:32-34.