The Second Amendment reveals a profound principle of American government - the principle of civilian ascendency over the military.
William O. DouglasWe are rapidly entering the age of no privacy, where everyone is open to surveillance at all times; where there are no secrets from government.
William O. DouglasAt the constitutional level where we work, 90 percent of any decision is emotional. The rational part of us supplies the reasons for supporting our predilections.
William O. DouglasInanimate objects are sometimes parties to litigation. A ship has a legal personality, a fiction found useful for maritime purposes. The corporation sole - a creature of ecclesiastical law - is an acceptable adversary, and large fortunes ride on its cases... So it should be as respects valleys, alpine meadows, rivers, lakes, estuaries, beaches, ridges, groves of trees, swampland, or even air that feels the destructive pressures of modern technology and modern life.
William O. Douglas