If There Is A Bedrock Principle Underlying

Capital Punishment...treats Members Of The Human Race...as Objects To Be Toyed With And Discarded.

Our Amended Constitution Is The Lodestar For Our Aspirations. Like Every Text Worth Reading, It Is Not Crystalline. The Phrasing Is Broad And The Limitations Of Its Provisions Are Not Clearly Marked. Its Majestic Generalities And Ennobling Pronouncements Are Both Luminous And Obscure. This Ambiguity Of Course Calls Forth Interpretation, The Interaction Of Reader And Text. The Encounter With The Constitutional Text Has Been, In Many Senses, My Life's Work.

The Concept Of Military Necessity Is Seductively Broad, And Has A Dangerous Plasticity. Because They Invariably Have The Visage Of Overriding Importance, There Is Always A Temptation To Invoke Security "necessities" To Justify An Encroachment Upon Civil Liberties. For That Reason, The Military-security Argument Must Be Approached With A Healthy Skepticism.

If A Policeman Must Know The Constitution, Then Why Not A Planner?

If Our Free Society Is To Endure, And I Know It Will, Those Who Govern Must Recognize That The Framers Of The Constitution Limited Their Power In Order To Preserve Human Dignity And The Air Of Freedom Which Is Our Proudest Heritage.