Good stuff: Hugo Black expressed his view on the Bill of Rights in his opinion in the 1947 case, Adamson v. California, which he saw as his most significant opinion written: I cannot consider the Bill of Rights to be an outworn 18th century strait jacket. Its provisions may be thought outdated abstractions by some. And it is true that they were designed to meet ancient evils. But they are the same kind of human evils that have emerged from century to century wherever excessive power is sought by the few at the expense of the many. In my judgment the people of no nation can lose their liberty so long as a Bill of Rights like ours survives and its basic purposes are conscientiously interpreted, enforced, and respected... I would follow what I believe was the original intention of the Fourteenth Amendment - to extend to all the people the complete protection of the Bill of Rights. To hold that this Court can determine what, if any, provisions of the Bill of Rights will be enforced, and if so to what degree, is to frustrate the great design of a written Constitution. - Hugo Black
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 06:03:47 +0000
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