"The danger is perhaps not great if the people of one State, through their legislature, decide that Lady Chatterley's Lover goes so far beyond the acceptable standards of candor that it will be deemed offensive and non-sellable, for the State next door is still free to make its own choice. At least we do not have one uniform standard. But the dangers to free thought and expression are truly great if the Federal Government imposes a blanket ban over the Nation on such a book. [...] The fact that the people of one State cannot read some of the works of D. H. Lawrence seems to me, if not wise or desirable, at least acceptable. But that no person in the United States should be allowed to do so seems to me to be intolerable, and violative of both the letter and spirit of the First Amendment."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Concurring in Roth v. United States, 354 U.S. 476, 496 (1957) (striking down a federal censorship act as unconstitutional).
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Marshall_Harlan_II
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
John Marshall Harlan II
John Marshall Harlan II (May 20, 1899 – December 29, 1971) was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from 1955 to 1971. His namesake was his grandfather John Marshall Harlan, another associate justice who served from 1877 to 1911.
10 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by John Marshall Harlan II →
Related Quotes
"His thinking threw light in a very introspective way on the entire process of the judicial function. His decisions, b…"
"No one was more sensitive than Mr. Justice Harlan to any suggestion that his approach to the Due Process Clause would…"
"This 'liberty' is not a series of isolated points pricked out in terms of the taking of property; the freedom of spee…"
"These decisions give support to a current mistaken view of the Constitution and the constitutional function of this c…"
"The Constitution is not a panacea for every blot upon the public welfare, nor should this Court, ordained as a judici…"
"This Court, limited in function in accordance with that premise, does not serve its high purpose when it exceeds its …"
"The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment stands, in my opinion, on its own bottom."
"Without this guarantee that one may not be deprived of his rights, neither liberty nor property, without due process …"
"One man's vulgarity is another's lyric."
"Individual rights have been recognized by our jurisprudence only after long and costly struggles. They should not be …"