Our procedure has always been haunted by the ghost of the innocent man convicted. It is an unreal dream. What we need to fear is the archaic formalism and the watery sentiment that obstructs, delays, and defeats the prosecution of crime.

Hand is pushing back against a common justification for expansive procedural protections in criminal cases: the fear that the system will convict the innocent. Calling that fear a “ghost” and an “unreal dream,” he suggests it can become a rhetorical obsession that distorts priorities. In his view, the greater practical danger is that rigid, outdated technical rules (“archaic formalism”) and emotionally driven leniency (“watery sentiment”) can impede timely, effective prosecution, thereby weakening public safety and confidence in law. The quote reflects a tension central to criminal justice: balancing safeguards against wrongful conviction with procedures that allow the state to enforce criminal law efficiently and credibly.