What we can decide, we can undecide. But stare decisis teaches that we should exercise that authority sparingly. Cf. S. Lee and S. Ditko, Amazing Fantasy No. 15: “Spider-Man,” p. 13 (1962) (“[I]n this world, with great power there must also come—great responsibility”). Finding many reasons for staying the stare decisis course and no “special justification” for departing from it, we decline Kimble’s invitation to overrule Brulotte.
June 22, 2015
Justice Kagan adopts the Spider-Man aphorism — "with great power there must also come—great responsibility" — and applies it to judges.
From the majority opinion, issued today, in Kimble v. Marvel Entertainment:
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But Justice Thomas needs chiding for irrelevantly bringing up the evil done by a convicted killer.
If you write a program that grows and grows, as features are added over the years, you need good decisions that won't prevent future changes by making them impossible.
At the future, it's best to add features by transforming the new stuff into things that already work and using that.
Sort of stare decis, in that future; even if a past choice could have been better.
At some point, though, you have to change something done long ago and just go through the exercise of fixing everything that change has broken, because it's otherwise impossible to survive.
It's valuable to know the precisely right quotation and citation: S. Lee and S. Ditko, Amazing Fantasy No. 15: “Spider-Man,” p. 13 (1962) (“[I]n this world, with great power there must also come—great responsibility”).
Got to have the dash and the brackets around the "i" that you need to capitalize.
You've got the particular issue and page number.
This is going to be a great time-saver in the future.
And yet, if you work on a law review -- if the law review standards are what they used to be — you can't rely on that. You've got to look it up. Is it really page 13? Is there really a dash?
Kagan will expose the truth about pro-choice doctrine that has been established in liberal States, and specifically the consequences of its use by the social complex... or not. Selective until the end.
A pic of the comic page:
http://www.quotecounterquote.com/2012/07/with-great-power-comes-great.html
It's on page 11 of the actual numbered story pages (which might be the 13th page of the actual issue, I can only read the Marvel Unlimited copy online which doesn't include the ad pages). It uses traditional comic book lettering, which means it's all capitalized. And it's two dashes.
If "responsibility" means "humility" then I guess it makes sense, kind of, but I thought the quote was to impress upon Spider-Man his duty to fight crime when his preference was to live a normal teenage life. He must take action because he can.
Since when is it a "great responsibility" to apply the rules that tell the Justices when they should overturn a precedent?
Maybe I'm dumb.
Having now gone to the page cited by SteveBrooklineMA, I think maybe I might just be a little dumb.
The comic book geek in my loves this.
The scholar in me not so much.
Apply that standard to gay marriage. Don't overturn centuries of religious and civil thinking simply because it would be tolerant to allow for gay marriage.
There never was a constitutional right to any marriage but that which was legal. And gays always had the same rights to marry in that fashion.
if they want a separate right there is a way to address it. And that is society coming to the conclusion. NOt the courts dictating what is or isn't constitutional based on the whim of liberal judges.
And that's all it is.
According to this, quote predates Spiderman:
Credit has been given to Stan Lee writer of spider man, Franklin D Rosevelt and even Winston churchil at various stages, however the first literary record of this can be attributed to Francois-Marie Arouet aka Voltaire.
Much like Victor Hugo, Voltaire was disturbed by the sickening abuse of authority and privilege by those in power whilst the poor and deprived starved and suffered around him.
Much of Voltaire's work reflects on this theme, however it was in "Œuvres de Voltaire, Volume 48" that we first hear the direct use of this phrase.
With great power to allow abortion on demand... has come zero responsibilities to avoid it becoming a form of contraception.
mayorhack
"With great power comes great electric bill."
lemondog said...
According to this, quote predates Spiderman:
No wonder I get Spiderman, Voltaire and Thomas C. Hansard* mixed up.
*"He should, however, beg leave to remind the conductors of the press of their duty to apply to themselves a maxim which they never neglected to urge on the consideration of government —"that the possession of great power necessarily implies great responsibility." - 1817
I'll bet Justice Kagan's spidey senses were tingling when she said this.
Sorry, guys, I read an awful lot of comics growing up. Matter of fact, I learned to read so I could understand what my older brother was getting out of those comics.
Needless to say, the nuns were not pleased.
Here is the Spidey page with quote.
She probably has a thing for guys in tights.
With great power comes great renouncability.
Is that Stan Lee quote in the constitution or is it in Blackstone?
Can't wait to read Tony Kennedy's citation to,"Love is love" next week.
Justice Kagan scorecard:
Pop culture awareness: 10/10.
Fidelity to the Constitution: 2.1/10
Overall grade so far: F.
Life tenure. Elections matter.
Kagan is an intellectual lightweight.
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