Supreme Court Justice

Explore 98 quotes by Supreme Court Justices

The truth is, that the law is always approaching, and never reaching, consistency. It is forever adopting new principles from life at one end, and it always retains old ones from history at the other, which have not yet been absorbed or sloughed off. It will become entirely consistent only when it ceases to grow.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

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Topic

Evolution of law Nature of law Law

Author

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Language

English

Time

1880 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr. "Early Forms of Liability." 23 Nov. 1880, The Lowell Institute, Boston, MA, USA.

Current Citation

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr. "Early Forms of Liability." The Common Law. Belknap Press, 2009.

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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Topic

Obscenity Freedom of speech and expression First Amendment

Author

William J. Brennan, Jr.

Medium

Supreme Court opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1957 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

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/.

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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Topic

Obscenity Freedom of speech and expression First Amendment

Author

William J. Brennan, Jr.

Medium

Supreme Court opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1957 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

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/.

There is no doubt that, if there were a super-Supreme Court, a substantial proportion of our reversals of state courts would also be reversed. We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final.

Robert H. Jackson

Brown v. Allen

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Topic

Judicial supremacy Constitutional theory

Author

Robert H. Jackson

Source

Brown v. Allen

Medium

Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1953 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Jackson, Robert H. United States, Supreme Court. Brown v. Allen. United States Reports, vol. 344, 9 Feb. 1953, pp. 443. Justia, https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/344/443/.

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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Topic

Constitutional interpretation US Constitution Constitutional theory

Speaker

William J. Brennan, Jr.

Medium

Lecture

Language

English

Time

1985 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

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.

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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Topic

Right to privacy Contraception

Author

William J. Brennan, Jr.

Source

Eisentadt v. Baird

Medium

Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1972 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

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/.

Under the First Amendment there is no such thing as a false idea. However pernicious an opinion may seem, we depend for its correction not on the conscience of judges and juries but on the competition of other ideas.

Lewis F. Powell, Jr.

Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc.

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Topic

First Amendment Constitutional law

Author

Lewis F. Powell, Jr.

Source

Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc.

Medium

Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1974 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Powell, Lewis F., Jr. United States, Supreme Court. Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. United States Reports, vol. 418, 25 June 1974, pp. 323-404. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/418/323/.

Certainly all those who have framed written Constitutions contemplate them as forming the fundamental and paramount law of the nation, and consequently the theory of every such government must be that an act of the Legislature repugnant to the Constitution is void.

John Marshall

Marbury v. Madison

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Topic

Constitutional theory

Author

John Marshall

Source

Marbury v. Madison

Medium

Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1803 1800s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Marshall, John. United States, Supreme Court. Marbury v. Madison. United States Reports, vol. 5, 24 Feb. 1803, pp. 137-180. Justia, supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/5/137/.

The day that this country ceases to be free for irreligion, it will cease to be free for religion—except for the sect that can win political power.

Robert H. Jackson

Zorach v. Clauson

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Topic

Freedom of religion

Author

Robert H. Jackson

Source

Zorach v. Clauson

Medium

Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1952 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Jackson, Robert H. Dissenting Opinion. Zorach v. Clauson. United States Reports, vol. 343, 28 Apr. 1952, pp. 323-325. Justia, supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/343/306/.

It is revolting to have no better reason for a rule of law than that so it was laid down in the time of Henry IV. It is still more revolting if the grounds upon which it was laid down have vanished long since, and the rule simply persists from blind imitation of the past.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

More information about this quote

Topic

Legal theory Law

Author

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Language

English

Time

1897 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr. "The Path of the Law." Address to the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts at the dedication of the new hall of the Boston University School of Law. 8 Jan. 1897, Boston University School of Law, Boston, MA, USA.

Current Citation

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr. "The Path of the Law." The Essential Holmes: Selections from the Letters, Speeches, Judicial Opinions, and Other Writings of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr, edited by Richard A. Posner. University of Chicago Press, 1997.

The foregoing cases suggest that specific guarantees in the Bill of Rights have penumbras, formed by emanations from those guarantees that help give them life and substance… Various guarantees create zones of privacy.

William O. Douglas

Grisworld v. Connecticut

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Topic

Right to privacy Bill of Rights Constitutional law

Author

William O. Douglas

Source

Grisworld v. Connecticut

Medium

Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1965 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Douglas, William O. United States, Supreme Court. Griswold v. Connecticut. United States Reports, vol. 381, 7 June 1965, pp. 479–531. Justia, supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/381/479/.

A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged, it is the skin of a living thought, and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and the time in which it is used.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Towne v. Eisner

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Topic

Meaning of words Words

Author

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Source

Towne v. Eisner

Medium

Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1918 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr. United States, Supreme Court. Towne v. Eisner. United States Reports, vol. 245, 7 Jan. 1918, pp. 418-427. Justia, supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/245/418/.

It will need more than the Nineteenth Amendment to convince me that there are no differences between men and women, or that legislation cannot take those differences into account.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Adkins v. Children's Hospital

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Topic

Women's equality Men and women

Author

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Source

Adkins v. Children's Hospital

Medium

Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1923 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr. Dissenting Opinion. Adkins v. Children's Hospital. United States Reports, vol. 261, 9 Apr. 1923, pp. 567-571. Justia, supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/250/616/.

The conception of political equality from the Declaration of Independence, to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, to the Fifteenth, Seventeenth, and Nineteenth Amendments can mean only one thing—one person, one vote.

William O. Douglas

Gray v. Sanders

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Topic

Voting rights Equality

Author

William O. Douglas

Source

Gray v. Sanders

Medium

Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1963 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Douglas, William O. United States, Supreme Court. Gray v. Sanders. United States Reports, vol. 372, 17 June 1963, pp. 368-372. Justia, supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/372/368/.

We must never forget that it is a Constitution we are expounding.

John Marshall

McCulloch v. Maryland

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Topic

Constitutional interpretation US Constitution

Author

John Marshall

Source

McCulloch v. Maryland

Medium

Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1819 1810s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Marshall, John. United States, Supreme Court. McCulloch v. Maryland. United States Reports, vol. 17, 5 Mar. 1819, pp. 316-437. Justia, supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/17/316/.

The life of the law has not been logic: it has been experience.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

The Common Law

Read The Common Law at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Legal theory Law

Speaker

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Source

The Common Law

Medium

Lecture

Language

English

Time

1880 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr. "Lecture 1: Early Forms of Liability." Lowell Lectures. 23 Nov. 1880, Lowell Institute, Lowell, MA, USA.

Current Citation

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr. The Common Law. Belknap Press, 2009, lecture 1.

The power to tax involves the power to destroy.

John Marshall

McCulloch v. Maryland

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Topic

Taxes

Author

John Marshall

Source

McCulloch v. Maryland

Medium

Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1819 1810s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Marshall, John. United States, Supreme Court. McCulloch v. Maryland. United States Reports, vol. 17, 5 Mar. 1819, pp. 316-437. Justia, supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/17/316/.

Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. The humblest is the peer of the most powerful.

John Marshall Harlan

Plessy v. Ferguson

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Topic

Constitutional law US Constitution Legal theory

Author

John Marshall Harlan

Source

Plessy v. Ferguson

Medium

Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion

Genre

Dissenting opinion Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1896 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Harlan, John Marshall. Dissenting Opinion. Plessy v. Ferguson. United States Reports, vol. 163, 18 May 1896, pp. 552-564. Justia, supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/163/537/.

Insanity is often the logic of an accurate mind overtasked.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Read The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table at Project Gutenberg

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Topic

Insanity Burnout

Author

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Source

The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1831 1830s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Sr. "The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table." The New England Magazine. Boston: Joseph T. Buckingham, Nov. 1831 and Feb. 1832.

Current Citation

Holmes, Oliver Wendell. The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table. Dover Publications, 2015.

We have long since made clear that a state of war is not a blank check for the President when it comes to the rights of the Nation's citizens.

Sandra Day O'Connor

Hamdi v. Rumsfeld

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Topic

Rule of law in wartime Rule of law Constitutional law

Author

Sandra Day O'Connor

Source

Hamdi v. Rumsfeld

Medium

Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

2004 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

O'Connor, Sandra Day. United States, Supreme Court. Hamdi et al. v. Rumsfeld. United States Reports, vol. 542, 28 June 2004, pp. 507-599. Justia, supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/542/507/.