“Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding." [Olmstead v. U.S., 277 U.S. 438 (1928) (dissenting)]” GovernmentFreedomLibertyPolicyCivil RightsPrivacyEncroachment Author:Louis D. Brandeis
“At the foundation of our civil liberties lies the principle that denies to government officials an exceptional position before the law and which subjects them to the same rules of conduct that are commands to the citizen.” GovernmentLawLyingLibertyPrinciplesSubjectsPositionCitizensFoundationDenyCommandCivil RightsOfficialsExceptionalCivil LibertiesGovernment OfficialsLaw Courts Author:Louis D. Brandeis
“The progress of science in furnishing the government with means of espionage is not likely to stop with wire tapping. Ways may some day be developed by which the government, without removing papers from secret drawers, can reproduce them in court, and by which it will be enabled to expose to a jury the most intimate occurrences of the home. Advances in the psychic and related sciences may bring means of exploring unexpressed beliefs, thoughts and emotions. 'That places the liberty of every man in the hands of every petty officer' was said by James Otis of much lesser intrusions than these.” WayMayHomeGovernmentSecretSecurityPaperCourtIntimateSomedayPapersJuryDrawers Author:Louis D. Brandeis
“Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill it teaches the whole people by example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. To declare that in the administration of the criminal law the end justifies the means - to declare that the Government may commit crimes in order to secure the conviction of a private criminal - would bring terrible retributions.” PeopleIfsMenMayMeanEndsWholeGovernmentLawOrderLibertyTeachTeacherCrimeExampleTerribleIllConvictionCriminalsEvery ManCommitSecureAdministrationJustifyAnarchyContemptInvitesContagiousRetributionLiberty And JusticeCriminal LawEnds Justify The MeansConflicting Opinions Author:Louis D. Brandeis
“... fear breeds repression; that repression breeds hate; that hate menaces stable government; that the path of safety lies in the opportunity to discuss freely supposed grievances and proposed remedies; and that the fitting remedy for evil counsels is good ones.” GovernmentLyingHateEvilOpportunityPathSafetyStableRemedyRepressionFittingHate MeMenaceGrievance Author:Louis D. Brandeis
“Repression breeds hate; hate menaces stable government.” GovernmentHateStableRepressionHate MeMenace Author:Louis D. Brandeis
“We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both.” CountryWisdomHandsGovernmentPoliticalWealthJusticePowerDemocracyEconomicWise WordsCapitalismEconomicsEntrepreneurMiddle ClassDemocracies HaveSocial ClassEconomic InequalityEconomic JusticeVoting And DemocracyMaterial WealthSocial InjusticeSocial DemocracyWealth InequalityEconomic EqualitySocial Inequality Author:Louis D. Brandeis
“Our government... teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.” PeopleIfsMenWholeGovernmentLawPoliticalPoliticsChangeTeachExampleEvery ManAnarchyContemptInvitesLiberty And JusticeLaw And JusticeLaw CourtsLaws And GovernmentBest LawyerBelligerenceConflicting Opinions Author:Louis D. Brandeis
“The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.” MenWellsWarStatesGovernmentPeaceUnderstandingFreedomLibertyDangerCitizensLibertarianPrivacyAnti WarAntiwarAmendmentsRulersFirst AmendmentGoverningZealFreedom And LibertyFreedom LibertyCivil LibertiesProperty RightsLimited GovernmentRight To Bear ArmsBearing ArmsInsidiousLimiting GovernmentRights And FreedomsLibertarian PartyFounding Fathers GunLimited Freedom2 AmendmentUnited States GovernmentEncroachmentEternal VigilanceGreat LibertarianLiberty And JusticeAmerica FreedomPrice Of FreedomSupreme Court JusticeLimiting FreedomGreat FreedomAmendment 1Government PolicyFourth AmendmentGovernment And PoliticsFreedom To ReadLaw CourtsAmendment 4Controlling GovernmentLiberty And Justice For AllSecurity And FreedomJustice TruthDivided GovernmentConflicting OpinionsWrits Of Assistance Author:Louis D. Brandeis
“Experience teaches us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficent.” GovernmentPurposeLibertyTeachCitizensProtectLibertarianPrivacyAmendmentsRulersFirst AmendmentGoverningFreedom And LibertyFree SocietyFreedom LibertyCivil LibertiesProperty RightsLimited GovernmentVigilanceRight To Bear ArmsBearing ArmsInsidiousLimiting GovernmentRights And FreedomsLibertarian PartyFounding Fathers GunLimited FreedomEncroachmentEternal VigilanceLiberty And JusticePrice Of FreedomSupreme Court JusticeLimiting FreedomAmendment 1Government PolicyFourth AmendmentGovernment And PoliticsFreedom To ReadGovernment PoliticsLaw CourtsControlling GovernmentLiberty And Justice For AllSecurity And FreedomPurpose Of GovernmentJustice TruthDivided GovernmentConflicting OpinionsWrits Of Assistance Author:Louis D. Brandeis
“To declare that in the administration of criminal law the end justifies the means to declare that the Government may commit crimes in order to secure conviction of a private criminal would bring terrible retribution.” MayMeanEndsGovernmentLawOrderCrimeTerribleConvictionCriminalsCommitSecureAdministrationJustifyRetributionCriminal JusticeLiberty And JusticeCriminal LawLaw CourtsEnds Justify The MeansConflicting Opinions Author:Louis D. Brandeis
“Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.” MenShouldWellsGovernmentPurposeEvilPoliticsUnderstandingBornFreedomLibertyTeachDangerProtectIndependentPrivacyAmendmentsRulersInvasionZealFreedom And LibertyFreedom LibertyCivil LibertiesBearing ArmsInsidiousLurkingRights And FreedomsGuardingEncroachmentLiberty And JusticePrice Of FreedomBeneficenceInvasion Of PrivacyFourth AmendmentSecurity And FreedomRulershipEvil GovernmentConflicting OpinionsRepelling Author:Louis D. Brandeis
“Crime is contagious....if the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law.” IfsWarGovernmentLawDemocracyCrimeDrugContemptUsersContagiousPower CorruptsLiberty And JusticeCriminal LawLaw CourtsEnds Justify The MeansPower And CorruptionConflicting Opinions Author:Louis D. Brandeis
“Those who won our independence believed that the final end of the state was to make men free to develop their faculties... They valued liberty both as an end and as a means. They believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty... that public discussion is a political duty; and that this should be a fundamental principle of the American government.” MenShouldMeanEndsStatesGovernmentPoliticalSecretLibertyPrinciplesDemocracyDutyIndependenceFundamentalsCourtFinalsDiscussionFacultyAmendmentsFree SpeechFreedom Of SpeechFirst AmendmentAmerican GovernmentFundamental PrinciplesLiberty And JusticeLiberty Of Speech Author:Louis D. Brandeis
“The makers of our Constitution . . . conferred, as against the government, the right to be let alone - the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men.” MenGovernmentLibertyRightsConstitutionCivilizedMakersComprehensiveLiberty And JusticeSupreme Court JusticeFourth AmendmentLaw CourtsControlling GovernmentLegal RightsLaws And Government Author:Louis D. Brandeis
“Subtler and more far-reaching means of invading privacy have become available to the government. Discovery and invention have made it possible for the government, by means far more effective than stretching upon the rack, to obtain disclosure in court of what is whispered in the closet.” WorldMeanMadeGovernmentMoneyDemocracyDiscoveryCourtAvailableInventionSocialismMade ItReachingPrivacyClosetsStretchingRacksDisclosureInvadingDiscovery And Invention Author:Louis D. Brandeis
