--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I've never been impressed with…" description: "\"I've never been impressed with bureaucratic tradition. I don't like it when the parties come to me and say, 'This is the way that it's always done, jud..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac1/jed-s-rakoff-24994_always_i-ve-never-been-impressed-with-bureaucra_1181055.jpg" --- # I've never been impressed with bureaucratic tradition. I… ![“I've never been impressed with bureaucratic tradition. I don't like it when the parties come to me and say, 'This is the way that it's always done, judge.' I never found anything in the oath I took or the statutes I was asked to look at that said, 'Judge, stop thinking, because this is the way it…” quote by Jed S. Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac1/jed-s-rakoff-24994_always_i-ve-never-been-impressed-with-bureaucra_1181055.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac1/jed-s-rakoff-24994_always_i-ve-never-been-impressed-with-bureaucra_1181055.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac1/jed-s-rakoff-24994_always_i-ve-never-been-impressed-with-bureaucra_1181055.jpg) > “I've never been impressed with bureaucratic tradition. I don't like it when the parties come to me and say, 'This is the way that it's always done, judge.' I never found anything in the oath I took or the statutes I was asked to look at that said, 'Judge, stop thinking, because this is the way it was done before.'” [Jed S. Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-s-rakoff/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote challenges blind adherence to precedent, urging judges to think independently rather than follow tradition for its own sake. **In simple terms:** Don't follow tradition blindly; think for yourself. Key Takeaway Question established norms when they hinder justice. Themes judicial independence tradition critical thinking Mood reflective critical inquisitive Type advice philosophical legal. When to use this quote - courtroom decisions - legislative drafting - policy analysis - legal education Key Concepts rule of law institutional reform legal ethics Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance respect for precedent with the need for reform? - When is it appropriate to deviate from established practice? A Different Perspective Tradition can provide stability and consistency, which may be essential in some contexts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Always](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/always/) [Anything](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anything/) [Asked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asked/) [Because](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/because/) [Been](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/been/) [Before](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/before/) [Bureaucratic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bureaucratic/) [Bureaucratic Tradition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bureaucratic-tradition-3464643/) [Come](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/come/) [Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/done/) [Found](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/found/) [Impressed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impressed/) [Impressed Bureaucratic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impressed-bureaucratic-3464646/) [Judge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judge/) [Judge Oath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judge-oath-3464644/) [Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like/) [Look](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/look/) [Me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/me/) [Never](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/never/) [Oath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oath/) [Oath Took](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oath-took-3464645/) [Parties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parties/) [Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said/) [Say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/say/) [Stop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stop/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Took](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/took/) [Tradition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tradition/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [My first company, Pure Software, was exciting and innovative in the first few years and bureaucratic and painful in the last few before it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reed-hastings/my-first-company-pure-software-was-exciting-and-innovative-in-the/) [Reed Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reed-hastings/) > [OFSTED has made large cuts in the paperwork which schools are asked to provide and further steps to reduce the bureaucratic burden will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/estelle-morris/ofsted-has-made-large-cuts-in-the-paperwork-which-schools-are-asked/) [Estelle Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/estelle-morris/) > [The bureaucratic method of building an integrated Europe has exhausted its potential.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/the-bureaucratic-method-of-building-an-integrated-europe-has/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [The bureaucratic manager, the consuming aesthete, the therapist, the protester and their numerous kindred occupy almost all the available culturally recognizable roles, the notions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/the-bureaucratic-manager-the-consuming-aesthete-the-therapist-the/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [In the bureaucratic machine of socialism the way toward promotion is not achievement but the favor of the superiors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/in-the-bureaucratic-machine-of-socialism-the-way-toward-promotion-is/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [We need to call what is happening out of Washington, D.C., what it is: Bureaucratic terrorism: If you want a list of stories, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-shea/we-need-to-call-what-is-happening-out-of-washington-d-c-what-it-is/) [Matt Shea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-shea/) > [The prison industrial complex, to put it in its crassest term, is a system of industrial mass incarceration. So there's what you call bureaucratic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/the-prison-industrial-complex-to-put-it-in-its-crassest-term-is-a/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) > [ \[The Clinton health care initiative is\] washed-over old-time bureaucratic liberalism, or centralized bureaucratic socialism. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/newt-gingrich/the-clinton-health-care-initiative-is-washed-over-old-time/) [Newt Gingrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/newt-gingrich/) > [My work is made on lines similar to those of a film production. A lot of my work is kind of bureaucratic, endlessly phoning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-work-is-made-on-lines-similar-to-those-of-a-film-production-a-lot/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It is horrible to think that the world could one day be filled with nothing but those little cogs, little men clinging to little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/it-is-horrible-to-think-that-the-world-could-one-day-be-filled-with/) [Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/) > [In 1966, NASA took over in space, and it has been a bureaucratic mess ever since.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-yeager/in-1966-nasa-took-over-in-space-and-it-has-been-a-bureaucratic-mess/) [Chuck Yeager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-yeager/) > [For political and bureaucratic reasons, governments at all levels are telling far less to the public than to insiders about how to prepare for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/for-political-and-bureaucratic-reasons-governments-at-all-levels-are/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [The behavior of any bureaucratic organization can best be understood by assuming that it is controlled by a secret cabal of its enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-conquest/the-behavior-of-any-bureaucratic-organization-can-best-be-understood/) [Robert Conquest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-conquest/) > [France has not only built a bureaucratic barrier against American culture, it has constructed a notorious intellectual case against it as well. The French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/france-has-not-only-built-a-bureaucratic-barrier-against-american/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [“First, since so much time is spent by people in bureaus working with paper, they may come to set too much store by it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-since-so-much-time-is-spent-by-people-in-bureaus-working-with/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Jed S. Rakoff > [When I was a kid, and for many years after, I was your classic afraid-to-dance-type person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-s-rakoff/when-i-was-a-kid-and-for-many-years-after-i-was-your-classic-afraid/) [Jed S. Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-s-rakoff/) > [It's very hard to uphold individual liberty when the person you're representing is often a crook.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-s-rakoff/it-s-very-hard-to-uphold-individual-liberty-when-the-person-you-re/) [Jed S. Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-s-rakoff/) > [The price of being a nice guy is too high - much too high - in terms of the system of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-s-rakoff/the-price-of-being-a-nice-guy-is-too-high-much-too-high-in-terms-of/) [Jed S. Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-s-rakoff/) > [In baseball you have individual responsibility, and if you fail it, you get an error. But at the same time, your focus is on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-s-rakoff/in-baseball-you-have-individual-responsibility-and-if-you-fail-it-you/) [Jed S. Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-s-rakoff/) > [I was always attracted to taking a novel position, but one grounded in the materials I'd been given, not made up out of whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-s-rakoff/i-was-always-attracted-to-taking-a-novel-position-but-one-grounded-in/) [Jed S. Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-s-rakoff/) > [Companies do not commit crimes; only their agents do. And while a company might get the benefit of some such crimes, prosecuting the company…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-s-rakoff/companies-do-not-commit-crimes-only-their-agents-do-and-while-a/) [Jed S. Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-s-rakoff/) > [I admired Truman, among many other things, because he integrated the Army. I admired JFK because the very first civil rights legislation was passed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-s-rakoff/i-admired-truman-among-many-other-things-because-he-integrated-the/) [Jed S. Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-s-rakoff/) > [If crimes are committed, they are committed by people; they are not committed by some free-floating entity. These companies and other entities don't operate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-s-rakoff/if-crimes-are-committed-they-are-committed-by-people-they-are-not/) [Jed S. Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-s-rakoff/) > [One of the many things I like about baseball is how it combines individual talent and teamsmanship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-s-rakoff/one-of-the-many-things-i-like-about-baseball-is-how-it-combines/) [Jed S. Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-s-rakoff/) > [I think it's common sense to say that the longer away from a crime it gets prosecuted, the less deterrent effect there is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-s-rakoff/i-think-it-s-common-sense-to-say-that-the-longer-away-from-a-crime-it/) [Jed S. Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-s-rakoff/) > [Everything needs to be public. The legitimacy of the courts comes from the fact that they reason openly, on the record, based on facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-s-rakoff/everything-needs-to-be-public-the-legitimacy-of-the-courts-comes-from/) [Jed S. Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-s-rakoff/) > [In my experience, most federal prosecutors, at every level, are seeking to make a name for themselves, and the best way to do that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-s-rakoff/in-my-experience-most-federal-prosecutors-at-every-level-are-seeking/) [Jed S. Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-s-rakoff/) > [Why should the court impose a judgment in a case in which the SEC alleges a serious securities fraud, but the defendant neither admits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-s-rakoff/why-should-the-court-impose-a-judgment-in-a-case-in-which-the-sec/) [Jed S. Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-s-rakoff/) > [If, in the name of combating terrorism, we so restrict our own freedom, have we not thereby lost part of the very battle we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-s-rakoff/if-in-the-name-of-combating-terrorism-we-so-restrict-our-own-freedom/) [Jed S. Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-s-rakoff/) > [Judges have to be neutral, but they don't have to be eunuchs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-s-rakoff/judges-have-to-be-neutral-but-they-don-t-have-to-be-eunuchs/) [Jed S. Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-s-rakoff/) [Explore all 23 Jed S. Rakoff quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-s-rakoff/) ## More Always quotes > [I think performing has pretty much always been a part of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isa-briones/i-think-performing-has-pretty-much-always-been-a-part-of-me/) [Isa Briones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isa-briones/) > [I always thought if I was born 2000 years earlier, I would be a monk, probably carving a monastery or some giant pantheon buildings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenova-chen/i-always-thought-if-i-was-born-2000-years-earlier-i-would-be-a-monk/) [Jenova Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenova-chen/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [It's always great to see old friends, especially those I have not been able to see in 15 months.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-regal/it-s-always-great-to-see-old-friends-especially-those-i-have-not-been/) [William Regal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-regal/) > [When you step out and do a song in a musical, the easier thing to do is make it funny. But when those transitions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelli-o-hara/when-you-step-out-and-do-a-song-in-a-musical-the-easier-thing-to-do/) [Kelli O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelli-o-hara/) > [I have really good lateral movement. I've always had quick lateral movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-rivers/i-have-really-good-lateral-movement-i-ve-always-had-quick-lateral/) [Austin Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-rivers/) > [There is something magical about being able to feel somebody. And that is something that has always moved me with music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-brink/there-is-something-magical-about-being-able-to-feel-somebody-and-that/) [Maria Brink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-brink/) > [Mythology is something that always has opportunities to explore. 'It' has been on Earth for millions of years. He's been in contact with humans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-muschietti/mythology-is-something-that-always-has-opportunities-to-explore-it/) [Andy Muschietti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-muschietti/) > [It's not writing in the traditional sense, but I've always said that the writing process continues on the set and even into the editing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-weide/it-s-not-writing-in-the-traditional-sense-but-i-ve-always-said-that/) [Robert B. Weide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-weide/) > [I always watch my matches back 100 times afterwards because that's how I improve. This is something I've always done, even in NXT.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-rose/i-always-watch-my-matches-back-100-times-afterwards-because-that-s/) [Mandy Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-rose/) > [I've always been of the idea that is doesn't really matter where you are geographically - with 'Lonerism,' we made half the album in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-parker/i-ve-always-been-of-the-idea-that-is-doesn-t-really-matter-where-you/) [Kevin Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-parker/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [Whether it was Little League or playing with your brothers or sisters, that was always a problem. If I would lose - because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-ripken-jr/whether-it-was-little-league-or-playing-with-your-brothers-or-sisters/) [Cal Ripken, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-ripken-jr/) > [I always say if you put someone from a small town into a big city for ten years, then when they go back, they'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-colter/i-always-say-if-you-put-someone-from-a-small-town-into-a-big-city-for/) [Mike Colter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-colter/) > [Bayern is always a team that can win the Champions League title in Europe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lothar-matthaus/bayern-is-always-a-team-that-can-win-the-champions-league-title-in/) [Lothar Matthaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lothar-matthaus/) [Browse all 36,048 Always quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/always/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I've never been impressed with bureaucratic tradition. 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