Learned Hand

Some scholars have recognized the Second Circuit under Hand as one of the finest appeals courts in the country's history. Hand was viewed as a liberal defender of civil liberties, and a pioneer of modern approaches to statutory interpretation. In a First Amendment opinion, United States v. Dennis, Hand wrote: "In each case, [courts] must ask whether the gravity of the 'evil', discounted by its improbability, justifies such invasion of free speech as is necessary to avoid the danger." On constitutional matters, he was both a political progressive and an advocate of judicial restraint. He believed in the protection of free speech and in bold legislation to address social and economic problems. A leading advocate of judicial restraint, he took seriously Alexander Hamilton's formulation that "the judiciary ... may truly be said to have neither force nor will, but merely judgment."

Hand's democratic respect for legislation meant that he hardly ever struck down a law. He adhered to the doctrine of presumptive validity, which assumes that legislators know what they are doing when they pass a law. Hand wrote in his opinion in United States v. Schechter Poultry: "It is always a serious thing to declare any act of Congress unconstitutional, and especially in a case where it is part of a comprehensive plan for the rehabilitation of the nation as a whole. With the wisdom of that plan we have nothing whatever to do..." Hand also occasionally went against the government in the area of free speech. He believed that courts should protect the right to free speech even against the majority will.

We, of course, did not know much of this and instead just pulled it down off of Wikipedia (and thus can’t vouch for it). We named the band after Judge Hand because a few of us are practicing lawyers in Boston and, well, his name is just too cool not to use. We hope that the descendents of Judge Hand appreciate that we are using his name with respect for the law and his particular jurisprudence. Judge not our music until you hear it. As Hand himself said: "Produce what you have. I will judge it fairly... I will not take it on hearsay. I will remember that what has brought us up from savagery is a loyalty to truth, and truth cannot emerge unless it is subjected to the utmost scrutiny—will you not agree that a society which has lost sight of that, cannot survive?” Dilliard, Irving, ed., The Spirit of Liberty (1977), University of Chicago Press.


		Learned Hand Patron Saint, Muse Billings Learned Hand (1872 – 1961) served on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and later the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Hand wrote approximately four thousand judicial opinions during his career. Admired for their clarity and analytic precision, they have been quoted more often in Supreme Court opinions and by legal scholars than those of any other lower-court judge.


	Some scholars have recognized the Second Circuit under Hand as one of the finest appeals courts in the country's history. Hand was viewed as a liberal defender of civil liberties, and a pioneer of modern approaches to statutory interpretation. In a First Amendment opinion, United States v. Dennis, Hand wrote: "In each case, [courts] must ask whether the gravity of the 'evil', discounted by its improbability, justifies such invasion of free speech as is necessary to avoid the danger." On constitutional matters, he was both a political progressive and an advocate of judicial restraint. He believed in the protection of free speech and in bold legislation to address social and economic problems. A leading advocate of judicial restraint, he took seriously Alexander Hamilton's formulation that "the judiciary ... may truly be said to have neither force nor will, but merely judgment." Hand's democratic respect for legislation meant that he hardly ever struck down a law. He adhered to the doctrine of presumptive validity, which assumes that legislators know what they are doing when they pass a law. Hand wrote in his opinion in United States v. Schechter Poultry: "It is always a serious thing to declare any act of Congress unconstitutional, and especially in a case where it is part of a comprehensive plan for the rehabilitation of the nation as a whole. With the wisdom of that plan we have nothing whatever to do..." Hand also occasionally went against the government in the area of free speech. He believed that courts should protect the right to free speech even against the majority will. We, of course, did not know much of this and instead just pulled it down off of Wikipedia (and thus can’t vouch for it). We named the band after Judge Hand because a few of us are practicing lawyers in Boston and, well, his name is just too cool not to use. We hope that the descendents of Judge Hand appreciate that we are using his name with respect for the law and his particular jurisprudence. Judge not our music until you hear it. As Hand himself said: "Produce what you have. I will judge it fairly... I will not take it on hearsay. I will remember that what has brought us up from savagery is a loyalty to truth, and truth cannot emerge unless it is subjected to the utmost scrutiny—will you not agree that a society which has lost sight of that, cannot survive?” Dilliard, Irving, ed., The Spirit of Liberty (1977), University of Chicago Press.



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