Rule-Making and the Police

That remarkable man, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, in whose name and by whose providence we are met on this occasion, had many profound perceptions about the nature of law-making. Except for the violence of the Civil War in his youth, his life was largely lived at a time and in a society which seem simple and benevolent by comparison with our own. Some of his generalizations, nevertheless, continue to define accurately the limitations under which we confront the complexities presently assailing us on every side. This is notably true of the administration of criminal justice.