First Amendment Quotes - Page 9

• [Liberals] are always accusing us of repressing their speech. I say let's do it. Let's repress them. ... Frankly, I'm not a big fan of the First Amendment.

  Ann Coulter

  Speech, Firsts, Fans

  "Coulter Draws Fire for Bashing 9/11 Widows". www.washingtonpost.com. June 9, 2006.

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• Any time someone carries a picket sign in front of the White House, that is the First Amendment in action

  Julian Bond

  White, House, Firsts

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• The First Amendment of the US Constitution ... is an eloquent repudiation of the First Commandment's prohibition of religious freedom. It is also a repudiation of the Third Commandment's prohibition of freedom of speech. The Thirteenth Amendment repudiates the institution of slavery which is so cozily assumed by the Fourth and Tenth Protestant Commandments.

  Frank Zindler

  Religious, Freedom Of Speech, Atheism

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• Only the suppressed word is dangerous.

  Ludwig Borne

  Inspirational, Censorship, Danger

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• We should build respect and understanding between the diverse cultures of the world. We should help construct communities where people of different backgrounds can live together as neighbors. Freedom is something for which we must fight, not by limiting it but by strengthening it.

  Alexandra Byrne

  Fighting, People, Community

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• The Constitution exists precisely so that opinions and judgments, including esthetic and moral judgments about art and literature, can be formed, tested, and expressed. What the Constitution says is that these judgments are for the individual to make, not for the Government to decree, even with the mandate or approval of a majority. Technology expands the capacity to choose; and it denies the potential of this revolution if we assume the Government is best positioned to make these choices for us.

  Anthony Kennedy

  Art, Technology, Government

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• For if we are observed in all matters, we are constantly under threat of correction, judgment, criticism, even plagiarism of our own uniqueness. We become children, fettered under watchful eyes, constantly fearful that-either now or in the uncertain future-patterns we leave behind will be brought back to implicate us, by whatever authority has now become focused upon our once-private and innocent acts. We lose our individuality, because everything we do is observable and recordable.

  Bruce Schneier

  Children, Eye, Individuality

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• Whether children have first amendment rights is a vexed legal question, but what is not in question is that they someday will. Constraining them from expressing their views is no preparation for exercising those rights.

  Crispin Sartwell

  Children, Exercise, Rights

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• The Internet may fairly be regarded as a never-ending worldwide conversation. The government may not, through the C.D.A., interrupt that conversation. As the most participatory form of mass speech yet developed, the Internet deserves the highest protection from governmental intrusion.

  Stewart Dalzell

  Technology, Government, Availability

  Excerpts From Opinions of Judges on Blocking Enforcement of InternetLaw, www.nytimes.com. June 13, 1996.

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• The lessons of the First Amendment are as urgent in the modern world as the 18th Century when it was written. One timeless lesson is that if citizens are subjected to state-sponsored religious exercises, the State disavows its own duty to guard and respect that sphere of inviolable conscience and belief which is the mark of a free people.

  Anthony Kennedy

  Religious, Exercise, People

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• [Confiscating a book and punishing its author] is a sign that one does not have a good case, or at least doesn't trust it enough to defend it with reasons and refute the objections. Some people even go so far as to consider prohibited or confiscated books to be the best ones of all, for the prohibition indicates that their authors wrote what they really thought rather than what they were supposed to think . . .

  Laszlo Radvanyi

  Book, Thinking, People

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• Every legislative limitation upon utterance, however valid, may in a particular case serve as an inroad upon the freedom of speech which the Constitution protects.

  Stanley Forman Reed

  Freedom Of Speech, Utterance, May

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• The Library is an open sanctuary. It is devoted to individual intellectual inquiry and contemplation. Its function is to provide free access to ideas and information. It is a haven of privacy, a source of both cultural and intellectual sustenance for the individual reader. Since it is thus committed to free and open inquiry on a personal basis, the Library must remain open, with access to it always guaranteed.

  Robert G. Vosper

  Ideas, Intellectual, Library

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• I've always wondered if people who block each other from expressing their opinions do so because they have so little confidence in their own. To me, encountering an opposing point of view is a chance to gain a deeper understanding of the issues at stake and develop my own point of view. But the first thing you've got to do is you've got to let people speak and you've got to listen. And that's what the first amendment is all about. That's what really distinguishes this country from others.

  Michael Bloomberg

  Country, Block, Views

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• I do believe that supporting our First Amendment rights and supporting local law enforcement are not mutually exclusive.

  Steve Clevenger

  Believe, Rights, Law

  Source: www.usatoday.com

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• This [anti-terrorism bill] is a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech and the Fourth Amendment protection of private property... Some of these provisions place more power in the hands of law enforcement than our Founding Fathers could have dreamt and severely compromises the civil liberties of law-abiding Americans. This bill, while crafted with good intentions, is rife with constitutional infringements I could not support.

  Butch Otter

  Father, Hands, Law

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• I try to practice my religion in a very devout way and follow the teachings of my church in my own personal life, but I don't believe in America, a first amendment nation, where we don't raise any religion over the other, and we allow people to worship they please, that the doctrines of any religion should be mandated for everyone.

  Tim Kaine

  Believe, Teaching, Practice

  Source: www.politico.com

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• There's, under Obama, an epidemic has developed of abusing national security laws to crack down on legitimate use of the First Amendment.

  Julian Assange

  Law, Epidemics, Use

  "Sean Hannity Is Now a Big Julian Assange Fan". Interview, www.slate.com. September 7, 2016.

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• I'm not up for changing the 10th amendment or the 14th amendment, the first amendment or the second amendment.

  Andrew Breitbart

  Second Amendment, Firsts, Amendments

  Source: latinalista.com

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• The First Amendment defends all forms of speech including hate speech, which is why groups like Ku Klux Klan are allowed to utter their poisonous remarks.

  Salman Rushdie

  Hate, Ku Klux Klan, Groups

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• I want to regain my First Amendment rights.

  Laura Schlessinger

  Rights, Want, Firsts

  Larry King Live, transcripts.cnn.com. August 17, 2010.

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• I'm a big supporter of the Second Amendment. But I think I have a First Amendment right not to be shot.

  Michael Nutter

  Thinking, Second Amendment, Firsts

  Michael A. Nutter (2017). “Mayor: The Best Job in Politics”, p.86, University of Pennsylvania Press

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• If you're not going to offend somebody you don't need the First Amendment.

  Larry Flynt

  Needs, Firsts, Amendments

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• Librarians see themselves as the guardians of the First Amendment. You got a thousand Mother Joneses at the barricades! I love the librarians, and I am grateful for them!

  Michael Moore

  Mother, Grateful, Firsts

  "Muzzling Moore" by Kera Bolonik, www.salon.com. January 7, 2002.

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• Whatever one's religion in his private life may be, for the officeholder, nothing takes precedence over his oath to uphold the Constitution and all its parts - including the First Amendment and the strict separation of church and state.

  John F. Kennedy

  Presidential, Atheism, Church

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