The Constitution was a product of its times.
THURGOOD MARSHALLThe Constitution was a product of its times.
THURGOOD MARSHALLThe United States has been called the melting pot of the world. But it seems to me that the colored man either missed getting into the pot or he got melted down.
THURGOOD MARSHALLSometimes history takes things into its own hands.
THURGOOD MARSHALLIn recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.
THURGOOD MARSHALLEnding racial discrimination in jury selection can be accomplished only by eliminating peremptory challenges entirely.
THURGOOD MARSHALLA man can make what he wants of himself if he truly believes that he must be ready for hard work and many heartbreaks.
THURGOOD MARSHALLThe death penalty is no more effective a deterrent than life imprisonment. It is also evident that the burden of capital punishment falls upon the poor, the ignorant and the underprivileged members of society.
THURGOOD MARSHALLMere access to the courthouse doors does not by itself assure a proper functioning of the adversary process.
THURGOOD MARSHALLI cannot accept this invitation for I do not believe that the meaning of the Constitution was forever ‘fixed’ at the Philadelphia Convention… To the contrary, the government they devised was defective from the start. [Progressive]
THURGOOD MARSHALLIf the First Amendment means anything, it means that a state has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his house, what books he may read or what films he may watch.
THURGOOD MARSHALLThe First Amendment serves not only the needs of the polity but also those of the human spirit – a spirit that demands self-expression .
THURGOOD MARSHALLClassifications and distinctions based on race or color have no moral or legal validity in our society. They are contrary to our constitution and laws.
THURGOOD MARSHALLOur whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men’s minds.
THURGOOD MARSHALLToday’s Constitution is a realistic document of freedom only because of several corrective amendments. Those amendments speak to a sense of decency and fairness that I and other Blacks cherish.
THURGOOD MARSHALLSurely the fact that a uniformed police officer is wearing his hair below his collar will make him no less identifiable as a policeman.
THURGOOD MARSHALLTruth is more than a mental exercise.
THURGOOD MARSHALL