I know it when I see it
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The phrase that I know it when I see it usually describes something that is hard to define but can be recognized by intuition. It became "one of the most famous phrases in the entire history" of the United States Supreme Court[1] by Justice Potter Stewart's concurring opinion in the case of Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964). Justice Stewart used it to give a vague standard for pornography. He wrote: "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that." (emphasis added)
The I-know-it-when-I-see-it standard was praised as "candor"[2] or "realistic and gallant".[3] It has also been criticized as subjective, without an objective standard for application of the law.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Paul Gewirtz, "On 'I Know It When I See It'", Yale Law Journal, Vol. 105, pp. 1023-1047 (1996)
- ^ Richard A. Posner, Law and Literature: A Misunderstood Relation p.308 (1988)
- ^ Harry Kalven, Jr., A Worthy Tradition: Freedom of Speech in America, p.40 (1988)
 |
This article relating to law in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
