If our free society is to endure, and I know it will, those who govern must recognize that the Framers of the Constitution limited their power in order to preserve human dignity and the air of freedom which is our… — 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
Capital punishment...treats members of the human race...as objects to be toyed with and discarded. — William J. Brennan Copy Share
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
“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
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
Our amended Constitution is the lodestar for our aspirations. Like every text worth reading, it is not crystalline. The phrasing is broad and the… — William J. Brennan Copy Share
The public schools are supported entirely, in most communities, by public funds-funds exacted not only from parents, nor alone from those who hold particular… — William J. Brennan Copy Share
The genius of the Constitution rests not in any static meaning it might have had in a world that is dead and gone, but… — William J. Brennan Copy Share
