Perhaps The Bleakest Fact Of All Is

The Genius Of The Constitution Rests Not In Any Static Meaning It Might Have Had In A World That Is Dead And Gone, But In The Adaptability Of Its Great Principles To Cope With Current Problems And Current Needs.

The Modern Public School Derived From A Philosophy Of Freedom Reflected In The First Amendment ... The Non-sectarian Or Secular Public School Was The Means Of Reconciling Freedom In General With Religious Freedom.

One Area Of Law More Than Any Other Besmirches The Constitutional Vision Of Human Dignity. . . . The Barbaric Death Penalty Violates Our Constitution. Even The Most Vile Murderer Does Not Release The State From Its Obligation To Respect Dignity, For The State Does Not Honor The Victim By< Emulating His Murderer. Capital Punishment's Fatal Flaw Is That It Treats People As Objects To Be Toyed With And Discarded. . . . One Day The Court Will Outlaw The Death Penalty. Permanently.

Perhaps The Bleakest Fact Of All Is That The Death Penalty Is Imposed Not Only In A Freakish And Discriminatory Manner, But Also In Some Cases Upon Defendants Who Are Actually Innocent.

We Current Justices Read The Constitution In The Only Way That We Can: As Twentieth Century Americans. We Look To The History Of The Time Of Framing And To The Intervening History Of Interpretation. But The Ultimate Question Must Be, What Do The Words Of The Text Mean In Our Time. For The Genius Of The Constitution Rests Not In Any Static Meaning It Might Have Had In A World That Is Dead And Gone, But In The Adaptability Of Its Great Principles To Cope With Current Problems And Current Needs.