A Constitutional Bedtime Story

Justice Frankfurter was giving a talk to the Supreme Court's clerks about his philosophy of judicial deference. He told them that the lawyers in the Executive Branch took the same oath to the Constitution that they did and took the Constitution just as seriously as they did. How, then, could the clerks second-guess the decisions of their executive counterparts?

Justice Frankfurter left and was followed by Justice Tom Clark, the former Attorney General. One clerk asked: "Justice Clark--Justice Frankfurter told us that Executive Branch lawyers take the Constitution as seriously as we do. Is that true?"

"Of course not." Clark replied.

(Maybe it's not true. But it's a good story.)