“I believe in absolute freedom of conscience for all men and equality of all churches, all sects and all beliefs before the law as a matter of right and not as a matter of favor. I believe in the absolute separation of church and state and in the strict enforcement of the Constitution that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof I believe that no tribunal of any church has any power to make any decree of any force in the law of the land, other than to establish the status of its own communicants within its own church.” MenBelieveMatterStatesLawBeliefForceI BelieveChurchAtheismLandExerciseConscienceConstitutionAbsolutesCongressI Believe InPositive AtheismFavorsSeparationEstablishmentStrictEnforcementChurch And StateSeparation Of Church And StateSectsDecreeAbsolute FreedomTribunals Author:Al Smith
“Numbered among our population are some 12,000,000 colored people. Under our Constitution their rights are just as sacred as those of any other citizen. It is both a public and a private duty to protect those rights. The Congress ought to exercise all its powers of prevention and punishment against the hideous crime of lynching, of which the negroes are by no means the sole sufferers, but for which they furnish a majority of the victims.” PeopleMeanRightsCrimeDutyOughtCitizensExerciseProtectConstitutionVictimSacredMajorityCongressPopulationPunishmentSoleHideousPreventionSufferersLynching Author:Calvin Coolidge
“The Constitution, in addition to delegating certain enumerated powers to Congress, places whole areas outside the reach of Congress' regulatory authority. The First Amendment, for example, is fittingly celebrated for preventing Congress from "prohibiting the free exercise" of religion or "abridging the freedom of speech." The Second Amendment similarly appears to contain an express limitation on the government's authority.” FirstsWholeGovernmentCertainExampleExerciseSpeechAuthorityAreasConstitutionCongressLimitationAmendmentsFreedom Of SpeechFirst AmendmentSecond AmendmentPreventing Author:Clarence Thomas
“The first phrase of the First Amendment spoke to the freedom uppermost in Jefferson's mind when it provided that, 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.' Here a double guarantee could be found: first, that government would do nothing to give official endorsement to a religion or to set one faith above another; second, that government would do nothing to inhibit the freedom of religion.” GivingMindFirstsGovernmentLawFoundExerciseCongressPhrasesOfficialsGuaranteesSpokesEstablishmentAmendmentsFirst AmendmentFreedom Of ReligionEndorsements Author:Edwin Gaustad
“I don't think this is a situation where you can say that Congress was avoiding any mention of the tax power. It'd be one thing if Congress explicitly disavowed an exercise of the tax power. But given that it hasn't done so, it seems to me that it's - not only is it fair to read this as an exercise of the tax power, but this court has got an obligation to construe it as an exercise of the tax power if it can be upheld on that basis.” IfsThinkingDoneSeemsGivenSituationOne ThingExerciseTaxesFairsBasesCourtCongressObligationAvoiding Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.