The Constitution is not neutral. It was designed to take the government off the backs of people.

Quote by William Orville Douglas

Topics: William Orville Douglas Quotes

Government should be concerned with anti-social conduct, not with utterances.

Government should be concerned with anti-social conduct, not with utterances.

I learned that the richness of life is found in adventure. . . . It...

I learned that the richness of life is found in adventure. . . . It...

Violence has no constitutional sanction; and every government from the beginning has moved against it....

Violence has no constitutional sanction; and every government from the beginning has moved against it....

Free speech is not to be regulated like diseased cattle and impure butter. The audience...

Free speech is not to be regulated like diseased cattle and impure butter. The audience...

We do not sit as a superlegislature to weigh the wisdom of legislation.

We do not sit as a superlegislature to weigh the wisdom of legislation.

The search of the young today is more specific than the ancient search for the...

The search of the young today is more specific than the ancient search for the...

The privacy and dignity of our citizens [are] being whittled away by sometimes imperceptible steps....

The privacy and dignity of our citizens [are] being whittled away by sometimes imperceptible steps....

The Constitution is not neutral. It was designed to take the government off the backs...

The Constitution is not neutral. It was designed to take the government off the backs...

Honorable retreats are no ways inferior to brave charges, as having less fortune, more of...

Honorable retreats are no ways inferior to brave charges, as having less fortune, more of...

Marriage is a coming together for better or for worse, hopefully enduring, and intimate to...

Marriage is a coming together for better or for worse, hopefully enduring, and intimate to...

Ignorance and illiteracy are obviously not synonymous; even illiterate masses can cast their ballots with...

Ignorance and illiteracy are obviously not synonymous; even illiterate masses can cast their ballots with...

The dominant purpose of the First Amendment was to prohibit the widespread practice of government...

The dominant purpose of the First Amendment was to prohibit the widespread practice of government...

We are rapidly entering the age of no privacy, where everyone is open to surveillance...

We are rapidly entering the age of no privacy, where everyone is open to surveillance...

If the government is in jeopardy, it is not because we are unable to cope...

If the government is in jeopardy, it is not because we are unable to cope...

Tell the FBI that the kidnappers should pick out a judge that Nixon wants back.

Tell the FBI that the kidnappers should pick out a judge that Nixon wants back.

Tell the FBI that the kidnappers should pick out a judge that Nixon wants back.

Tell the FBI that the kidnappers should pick out a judge that Nixon wants back.

The critical point is that the Constitution places the right of silence beyond the reach...

The critical point is that the Constitution places the right of silence beyond the reach...

Write on my gravestone: Infidel, Traitor., infidel to every church that compromises with wrong; traitor...

Write on my gravestone: Infidel, Traitor., infidel to every church that compromises with wrong; traitor...

Democracy, which is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing...

Democracy, which is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing...

Thus I have maintained by English history, that in proportion as the press has been...

Thus I have maintained by English history, that in proportion as the press has been...