The lessons of the First Amendment are as urgent in the modern world as the 18th Century when it was written. One timeless lesson is that if citizens are subjected to state-sponsored religious exercises, the State disavows its own duty to guard and respect that sphere of inviolable conscience and belief which is the mark of a free people.
Anthony KennedyThere's a time for debate and a time for consensus. There's a time for advocacy and time for first principles.
Anthony KennedySometimes it is easy... to enhance your prestige by not exercising your responsibility, but that's not been the tradition of the court.
Anthony KennedyThe case for freedom, the case for our constitutional principles the case for our heritage has to be made anew in each generation. The work of freedom is never done.
Anthony Kennedy