18 Quotes & Sayings By William O Douglas

William O. Douglas was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1939 to 1975. During his time on the Court, Douglas's opinions and decisions helped establish legal principles such as the separation of powers between the executive and judicial branches of government, and the constitutional rights of criminal suspects. He was best known for his opinions defending the rights of criminal suspects and protestors, including his dissenting opinion in Miranda v Read more

Arizona, which was pivotal in establishing that suspects have a right to remain silent unless and until questioned by law enforcement officials. The case also established that all citizens have a fundamental right to counsel during interrogation and that police must warn suspects of their rights before questioning them about their alleged crimes. Douglas received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1917 and served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy during World War I.

He received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University in 1907. In 1923, he became a professor at the University of California at Berkeley Law School, where he remained until 1937. In 1937, Douglas was appointed to the United States Supreme Court by President Franklin D.

Roosevelt. He served for over thirty-four years, longer than any other justice except Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who served forty-one years before resigning in 1932. He resigned from the court in 1975 to become a law professor at Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago, where he remained until retiring in 1983.

For his work on civil liberties cases, he became known as one of the "Four Horsemen" of the Supreme Court: Douglas, Frankfurter, Brennan and Blackmun were often referred to as "the four lions," reflecting their figurative depiction on the cover of Time magazine's May 2, 1946 issue.

Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
1
Sunlight is the best disinfectant. William O. Douglas
Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most...
2
Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un- American act that could most easily defea William O. Douglas
The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning...
3
The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all fre William O. Douglas
4
As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air — however slight — lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness. William O. Douglas
5
The American government is premised on the theory that if the individual man is to be free, his ideas, his beliefs, his ideology, his philosophy, must be placed beyond the reach of government. William O. Douglas
6
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 p . William O. Douglas
7
These examples and many others demonstrate an alarming trend whereby the privacy and dignity of our citizens is being whittled away by sometimes imperceptible steps. Taken individually, each step may be of little consequence. But when viewed as a whole, there begins to emerge a society quite unlike any we have seen -- a society in which government may intrude into the secret regions of man's life at . William O. Douglas
8
We are rapidly entering the age of no privacy, where everyone is open to surveillance at all times; where there are no secrets from govern William O. Douglas
9
Security can only be achieved through constant change through discarding old ideas that have outlived their usefulness and adapting others to current facts. William O. Douglas
10
We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being. William O. Douglas
11
Tell the FBI that the kidnappers should pick out a judge that Nixon wants back. William O. Douglas
12
One who comes to the Court must come to adore, not to protest. That's the new gloss on the 1st Amendment. William O. Douglas
13
Marriage is a coming together for better or for worse, hopefully enduring, and intimate to the degree of being sacred. William O. Douglas
14
Free speech is not to be regulated like diseased cattle and impure butter. The audience that hissed yesterday may applaud today, even for the same performance. William O. Douglas
15
The Constitution is not neutral. It was designed to take the government off the backs of people. William O. Douglas
16
The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedoms. William O. Douglas
17
Common sense often makes good law. William O. Douglas