17 Quotes by William J. Brennan, Jr.

We look to the history of the time of framing and to the intervening history of interpretation. But the ultimate question must be, what do the words of the text mean in our time.

The principle inherent in the clause that prohibits pointless infliction of excessive punishment when less severe punishment can adequately achieve the same purposes invalidates the punishment.

Law cannot stand aside from the social changes around it.

Appellant constituted a legitimate class of one, and this provides a basis for Congress's decision to proceed with dispatch with respect to his materials.

No longer is the female destined solely for the home and the rearing of the family and only the male for the marketplace and the world of ideas.

We current justices read the Constitution in the only way that we can: as 20th-century Americans.

If the right to privacy means anything, it is the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion.

Religious conflict can be the bloodiest and cruelest conflicts that turn people into fanatics.