One area of law more than any other besmirches the constitutional vision of human dignity. . . . The barbaric death penalty violates our Constitution. Even the most vile murderer does not release the state from its obligation to respect… — William J. Brennan Copy Share Image
Our amended Constitution is the lodestar for our aspirations. Like every text worth reading, it is not crystalline. The phrasing is broad and the limitations of its provisions are not clearly marked. Its majestic generalities and ennobling pronouncements are both… — William J. Brennan Copy Share Image
If our free society is to endure, those who govern must recognize human dignity and accept the enforcement of constitutional limitations on their power… — William J. Brennan Copy Share Image
Capital punishment...treats members of the human race...as objects to be toyed with and discarded. — William J. Brennan Copy Share Image
Debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust and wide-open and that...may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and… — William J. Brennan Copy Share Image
The modern public school derived from a philosophy of freedom reflected in the First Amendment ... The non-sectarian or secular public school was the… — William J. Brennan Copy Share Image
If a policeman must know the Constitution, then why not a planner? — William J. Brennan Copy Share Image
Our statute books gradually became laden with gross, stereotyped distinctions between the sexes and, indeed, throughout much of the 19th century the position of… — William J. Brennan Copy Share Image
We cannot let colorblindness become myopia which masks the reality that many "created equal" have been treated within our lifetimes as inferior both by… — William J. Brennan Copy Share Image
After each perceived security crisis ended, the United States has remorsefully realized that the abrogation of civil liberties was unnecessary. — William J. Brennan Copy Share Image
The door of the Free Exercise Clause stands tightly closed against any government regulation of religious beliefs as such. Government may neither compel affirmation… — William J. Brennan Copy Share Image
One area of law more than any other besmirches the constitutional vision of human dignity. . . . The barbaric death penalty violates our… — William J. Brennan Copy Share Image
“Thus, we consider this case against the background of a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited,… — William J. Brennan Copy Share Image
Whether to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to prurient interest. — William J. Brennan Copy Share Image
