Dedication
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Authors
Issue Date
1975
Volume
8
Issue
Type
Journal Article
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Abstract
FIRST PARAGRAPH(S)|Seldom in one lifetime are a state and nation privileged to have on the bench a man possessing the judicial talents of Justice Robert Smith. There have been few jurists in the history of the Nebraska Supreme Court who shared the dedication and brilliance Justice Smith brought with him. It is a great tragedy that an unfortunate illness, under which, unknown to many, he has labored for many years, has shortened his judicial career. His dedication to his ideals and to the court was exemplified upon his resignation when friends urged him to take a leave of absence for a year or two, rather than retire, to see if he might regain his health. He refused to consider it, stating that this would leave the other judges shorthanded, and the court was more important than his personal misfortune.|I have never known a fellow jurist who was a greater student of the law than Justice Smith. One of his first summers on the Supreme Court was spent studying the philosophical and historical bases of our criminal law system. His readings were vast in number and complex in content. I urged him to write some of his findings and reactions, but with characteristic humility, he declined, underestimating the contribution he could make. After Justice Smith came to the Supreme Court, he made a personal effort to read every opinion written by three of America's greatest jurists: Holmes, Brandeis and Learned Hand. He was motivated by an intense concern to improve the judicial quality of his own work. He was interested not only in the process of legal reasoning which these jurists diversely revealed, but also in their writing styles and their overall concern for reform in the administration of justice...
Description
Citation
8 Creighton L. Rev. [xvii] (1974-1975)
Publisher
Creighton University School of Law