William J. Brennan, Jr.

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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, Jr.

Establishing the American legal standard for obscenity, which does not receive First Amendment protection.

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Brennan, William J, Jr. United States, Supreme Court. Roth v. United States. United States Reports, vol. 354, 24 June 1957, pp. 476-514. supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/354/476/.

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All ideas having even the slightest redeeming social importance—unorthodox ideas, controversial ideas, even ideas hateful to the prevailing climate of opinion—have the full protection of the guaranties... But implicit in the history of the First Amendment is the rejection of obscenity as utterly without redeeming social importance... We hold that obscenity is not within the area of constitutionally protected speech or press.

William J. Brennan, Jr.

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Brennan, William J, Jr. United States, Supreme Court. Roth v. United States. United States Reports, vol. 354, 24 June 1957, pp. 476-514. supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/354/476/.

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We current Justices read the Constitution in the only way that we can: as Twentieth Century Americans. We look into the history of the time of framing and to the intervening history of interpretation. But, the ultimate question must be, what do the words of the text mean in our time. For the genius of the Constitution rests not in any static meaning it might have had in a world that is dead and gone, but it's in the adaptability of its great principles to cope with current problems and current needs.

William J. Brennan, Jr.

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Brennan, William J, Jr. "The Constitution of the United States: Contemporary Ratification." Text and Teaching Symposium. 12 Oct. 1985, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA. Speech.

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If the right of privacy means anything, it is the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the decision whether to bear or beget a child.

William J. Brennan, Jr.

Eisentadt v. Baird

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Brennan, William J, Jr. United States, Supreme Court. Eisentadt v. Baird. United States Reports, vol. 405, 22 Mar. 1972, pp. 438-472. supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/405/438/.

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The constitutional guarantees require, we think, a federal rule that prohibits a public official from recovering damages for a defamatory falsehood relating to his official conduct unless he proves that the statement was made with "actual malice"—that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.

William J. Brennan, Jr.

New York Times Co. v. Sullivan

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Brennan, William J, Jr. United States, Supreme Court. New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. United States Reports, vol. 376, 9 Mar. 1964, pp. 254-305. supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/376/254/.

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And, precisely because it is our flag that is involved, one's response to the flag-burner may exploit the uniquely persuasive power of the flag itself. We can imagine no more appropriate response to burning a flag than waving one's own, no better way to counter a flag burner's message than by saluting the flag that burns, no surer means of preserving the dignity even of the flag that burned than by—as one witness here did—according its remains a respectful burial. We do not consecrate the flag by punishing its desecration, for in doing so we dilute the freedom that this cherished emblem represents.

William J. Brennan, Jr.

Texas v. Johnson

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Read this opinion at supreme.justia.com.

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Brennan, William J, Jr. United States, Supreme Court. Texas v. Johnson. United States Reports, vol. 491, 21 June 1989, pp. 397-439. Justia, supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/491/397/.

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The chilling effect upon the exercise of First Amendment rights may derive from the fact of the prosecution, unaffected by the prospects of its success or failure.

William J. Brennan, Jr.

Dombrowski v. Pfister

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Brennan, William J, Jr. United States, Supreme Court. Dombrowski v. Pfister. United States Reports, vol. 380, 26 Apr. 1965, pp. 479-502. supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/380/479/.

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