The critical point is that the Constitution places the right of silence beyond the reach of government.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The Constitution guarantees individuals the right to remain silent, protecting them from government coercion.
- In plain terms
- You have a right to stay silent that the government cannot touch.
- What can you take from it?
- Uphold the right to silence against government overreach.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is the right to silence absolute?
- How do you protect it?
Another view
Public safety concerns sometimes push back against absolute silence rights.
More from William O. Douglas
The Fifth Amendment is an old friend and a good friend. one of the great landmarks in men's struggle to be free of tyranny, to be decent and civilized.
Permalink to quote #11 Free speech is not to be regulated like diseased cattle and impure butter. The audience ... that hissed yesterday may applaud today, even for the same performa…
Permalink to quote #13 Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.
Permalink to quote #10
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