Quote

An unconditional right to say what one pleases about public affairs is what I consider to be the minimum guarantee of the First Amendment.

Hugo Black

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Hugo Black
Age: 85 †
Born: 1886
Born: February 27
Died: 1971
Died: September 25
Former Associate Justice Of The Supreme Court Of The United States
Judge
Lawyer
Military Personnel
Politician
Ashland
Alabama
Hugo Lafayette Black
Consider
Amendment
Please
Amendments
Public
Unconditional
Religious
Guarantee
Political
Minimum
Firsts
Guarantees
First
Affairs
Right
Affair
Pleases

More quotes by Hugo Black

Image
The interest of the people lies in being able to join organizations, advocate causes, and make political mistakes without being subjected to governmental penalties.
Hugo Black
Image
The very first condition of lasting happiness is that a life should be full of purpose, aiming at something outside self.
Hugo Black
Image
I cannot agree with those who think of the Bill of Rights as an 18th century straitjacket, unsuited for this age...The evils it guards against are not only old, they are with us now, they exist today.
Hugo Black
Image
The Framers of the Constitution knew that free speech is the friend of change and revolution. But they also knew that it is always the deadliest enemy of tyranny.
Hugo Black
Image
Words uttered under coercion are proof of loyalty to nothing but self-interest. Love of country must spring from willing hearts and free minds.
Hugo Black
Image
No person can be punished for entertaining or professing religious beliefs or disbeliefs, for church attendance or non-attendance.
Hugo Black
Image
I am for the First Amendment from the first word to the last. I believe it means what it says.
Hugo Black
Image
Loyalty must arise spontaneously from the hearts of people who love their country and respect their government.
Hugo Black
Image
The layman's constitutional view is that what he likes is constitutional and that which he doesn't like is unconstitutional.
Hugo Black
Image
Criticism of government finds sanctuary in several portions of the 1st Amendment. It is part of the right of free speech. It embraces freedom of the press
Hugo Black
Image
Citizenship is no light trifle to be jeopardized any moment Congress decides to do so under the name of one of its general or implied grants of power.
Hugo Black
Image
The press was to serve the governed, not the governors.
Hugo Black
Image
In revealing the workings of government that led to the Vietnam War, the newspapers nobly did precisely that which the Founders hoped and trusted they would do.
Hugo Black
Image
The Establishment Clause stands as an expression of principle on the part of the Founders of our Constitution that religion is too personal, too sacred, too holy, to permit its 'unhallowed perversion' by a civil magistrate.
Hugo Black
Image
Sex is a fact of life...and while it may lead to abuses...no words need be spoken...for people to know that the subject is one pleasantly interwoven in all human activities and involves the very substance of creation itself.
Hugo Black
Image
Among religions in this country which do not teach what would generally be considered a belief in the existence of God are Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism and others.
Hugo Black
Image
The Court stands against any winds that blow as havens of refuge for those who might otherwise suffer because they are helpless, weak, outnumbered, or because they are nonconforming victims of prejudice or public excitement.
Hugo Black
Image
Freedom of speech means that you shall not do something to people either for the views they have, or the views they express, or the words they speak or write.
Hugo Black
Image
That Amendment requires the state to be a neutral in its relations with groups of religious believers and nonbelievers it does not require the state to be their adversary. State power is no more to be used so as to handicap religions than it is to favor them.
Hugo Black
Image
The Press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of the government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people.
Hugo Black