John Paul Stevens Quotes

Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority.

After all, a district judge who gives harsh sentences to Yankees fans and lenient sentences to Red Sox fans would not be acting reasonably even if her procedural rulings were impeccable.

Even in high school, a rule that permits only one point of view to be expressed is less likely to produce correct answers than the open discussion of countervailing views.

The interest in encouraging freedom of expression in a democratic society outweighs any theoretical but unproven benefit of censorship.

The government must pursue a course of complete neutrality toward religion.

Our love cannot be measured, it just is.

Whenever we remove a brick from the wall that was designed to separate religion and government, we increase the risk of religious strife and weaken the foundation of our democracy.

The level of discourse reaching a mailbox simply cannot be limited to that which would be suitable for a sandbox.

A democracy cannot function effectively when its constituent members believe laws are being bought and sold.

Although NFL teams have common interests such as promoting the NFL brand, they are still separate, profit-making entities, and their interests in licensing team trademarks are not necessarily aligned

Although it may not be a castle, [it is the] functional equivalent of a hotel room, a vacation and retirement home or a hunting and fishing cabin.

It is not our job to apply laws that have not yet been written.

To show a well-founded fear of persecution, an alien need not prove that it is more likely than not that he or she will be persecuted in his or her home country.

Requiring that an execution be relatively painless...actually undermines the very premise on which public approval of the retribution rationale is based.

The graphic emphasis placed on those first lines is rather hard to square with the proposition that the monument expresses no particular religious preference.

When the commission finds that a pig has entered the parlor, the exercise of its regulatory power does not depend on proof the pig is obscene.

To make a coverage decision, doesn't one have to make a medical judgment?

To show a 'well-founded fear of persecution', an alien need not prove that it is more likely than not that he or she will be persecuted in his or her home country.