#amendment

Once the government can demand of a publisher the names of the purchasers of his publications, the free press as we know it disappears. Then the spectre of a government agent will look over the shoulder of everyone who reads. The purchase of a book or pamphlet today may result in a subpoena tomorrow. Fear of criticism goes with every person into the bookstall. The subtle, imponderable pressures of the orthodox lay hold. Some will fear to read what is unpopular, what the powers-that-be dislike. When the light of publicity may reach any student, any teacher, inquiry will be discouraged. The books and pamphlets that are critical of the administration, that preach an unpopular policy in domestic or foreign affairs, that are in disrepute in the orthodox school of thought will be suspect and subject to investigation. The press and its readers will pay a heavy price in harassment. But that will be minor in comparison with the menace of the shadow which government will cast over literature that does not follow the dominant party line. If the lady from Toledo can be required to disclose what she read yesterday and what she will read tomorrow, fear will take the place of freedom in the libraries, book stores, and homes of the land. Through the harassment of hearings, investigations, reports, and subpoenas government will hold a club over speech and over the press." [United States v. Rumely, 345 U.S. 41 (1953)] ↗

— William O. Douglas

#control #first-amendment #freedom #freedom-of-thought #government

Amending the U.S. Constitution, the document most sacred to those who love freedom and liberty, is a delicate endeavor and should be done only on the basis of the most clear and convincing evidence that a proposed amendment is necessary. ↗

— Ben Nelson

#amendment #basis #clear #constitution #convincing

It is a measure of the framers' fear that a passing majority might find it expedient to compromise 4th Amendment values that these values were embodied in the Constitution itself. ↗

— Sandra Day O'Connor

#amendment #compromise #constitution #embodied #expedient

Statutes authorizing unreasonable searches were the core concern of the framers of the 4th Amendment. ↗

— Sandra Day O'Connor

#amendment #authorizing #concern #core #framers

The First Amendment freedom of religion is as important today as when the Bill of Rights was first written. ↗

— Arlen Specter

#bill #bill of rights #first #first amendment #freedom

As a matter of traditional and sound constitutional doctrine, an amendment to the Constitution should be the last resort when all other measures have proved inadequate. ↗

— Arlen Specter

#constitution #constitutional #doctrine #inadequate #last

There's nothing in the First Amendment that even remotely talks about spending money for political contests, and to say that an individual can spend as much of his or her own money as he or she wants constitutionally without any limitation, I think is just absurd. ↗

— Arlen Specter

#absurd #amendment #any #constitutionally #contests

When the 14th Amendment, equal protection clause was enacted, the galleries in the Senate were segregated. Now we have integration. ↗

— Arlen Specter

#clause #enacted #equal #equal protection #galleries

Let's create a regime that makes sale of bullets to anybody not licensed to carry a gun illegal, makes resale illegal, micro-stamps bullets so they can be traced. No Second Amendment issues here. This would have a remarkable impact on both violence and the capacity to solve shooting crimes. ↗

— Eliot Spitzer

#anybody #both #bullets #capacity #carry

I strongly believe that the Second Amendment creates an individual right to possess and use guns for purposes of both hunting and self-defense. ↗

— Cass Sunstein

#believe #both #creates #guns #hunting