Beyond Chafee: A Process-Based Theory of Unclean Hands

The governing principle has long been settled. It is that a court will not redress a wrong when he who invokes its aid has unclean hands. The maxim of unclean hands comes from courts of equity. But the principle prevails also in courts of law. . . . Then aid is denied despite the defendant’s wrong. It is denied in order to maintain respect for law; in order to promote confidence in the administration of justice; in order to preserve the judicial process from contamination. . . . It is sometimes spoken of as a rule of substantive law. But it extends to matters of procedure as well. – Louis D. Brandeis