William O. Douglas

“ Whatever action we take is a precedent.
I cannot state too strongly my belief that if the courts are to retain their independence, they must decide cases taken on the merits. A confession of error by a litigant is, of course, an important factor to take into account in studying a record. [4] It may disclose an intervening decision on a question of law that undermines the lower court's conclusion; it may disclose perjury by an important witness or newly discovered evidence; it may disclose other factors which weaken the conclusion of the lower court. ”

“ In the unanimous opinion of the Court, two Justices not participating, the function of this Court upon the Government's confession of error was described with particularity:
'The public trust reposed in the law enforcement officers of the Government requires that they be quick to confess error when, in their opinion, a miscarriage of justice may result from their remaining silent. ”

“ What the motivation behind a particular confession of error may be will seldom be known. We cannot become a paty to it without serving the unknown cause of the litigant. The practice in cases in which the Solicitor General confesses error was settled by Young v. ”