If discrimination based on race is constitutionally permissible when those who hold the reins can come up with "compelling" reasons to justify it, then constitutional guarantees acquire an accordion-like quality.
William O. DouglasSecurity can only be achieved through constant change, through discarding old ideas that have outlived their usefulness and adapting others to current facts.
William O. DouglasFreedom of movement is the very essence of our free society -- once the right to travel is curtailed, all other rights suffer.
William O. DouglasThe First and Fourteenth Amendments say that Congress and the States shall make "no law" which abridges freedom of speech or of the press. In order to sanction a system of censorship I would have to say that "no law" does not mean what it says, that "no law" is qualified to mean "some" laws. I cannot take this step.
William O. DouglasBut our society - unlike most in the world - presupposes that freedom and liberty are in a frame of reference that makes the individual, not government, the keeper of his tastes, beliefs, and ideas. That is the philosophy of the First Amendment; and it is this article of faith that sets us apart from most nations in the world.
William O. Douglas