After each perceived security crisis ended, the United States has remorsefully realized that the abrogation of civil liberties was unnecessary.

Perhaps the bleakest fact of all is that the death penalty is imposed not only in a freakish and discriminatory manner, but also in some cases upon defendants who are actually innocent.

Debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust and wide-open and that...may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.

The Constitution was framed fundamentally as a bulwark against governmental power, and preventing the arbitrary administration of punishment is a basic ideal of any society that purports to be governed by the rule of law.

Capital punishment...treats members of the human race...as objects to be toyed with and discarded.

We must meet the challenge rather than wish it were not before us.

The framers knew that liberty is a fragile thing, and so should we.