Their words
“If the First Amendment means anything, it means that a State has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his own house, what books he may read or what films he may watch.”
Source: Stanley v. Georgia, opinion of the Court, US Supreme Court, 7 April 1969
Context Writing for a unanimous Court, Marshall overturned a Georgia man's conviction for possessing obscene films that police found in his home during a search.
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More words from Thurgood Marshall
“In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.”
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“Power, not reason, is the new currency of this Court's decisionmaking.”
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“In light of the sorry history of discrimination and its devastating impact on the lives of Negroes, bringing the Negro into the mainstream of American life should be a state interest of the highest order.”
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“The true miracle was not the birth of the Constitution, but its life, a life nurtured through two turbulent centuries of our own making.”
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“We will only attain freedom if we learn to appreciate what is different and muster the courage to discover what is fundamentally the same.”
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“The legal system can force open doors and sometimes even knock down walls. But it cannot build bridges. That job belongs to you and me.”
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