Quotes from Harry A. Blackmun

From this day forward, I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death. ... I fell morally and intellectually obligated simply to concede that the death penalty experiment has failed.

What the Court really has refused to recognize is the fundamental interest all individuals have in controlling the nature of their intimate associations.

A government cannot be premised on the belief that all persons are created equal when it asserts that god prefers some

The right of an individual to conduct intimate relationships in the intimacy of his or her own home seems to me to be the heart of the Constitutions protection of privacy.

The flaw in the statute is that in all its applications, it operates on a fundamentally mistaken premise that high solicitation costs are an accurate measure of fraud.

It is precisely because the issue raised by this case touches the heart of what makes individuals what they are that we should be especially sensitive to the rights of those whose choices upset the majority.

By placing discretion in the hands of an official to grant or deny a license, such a statute creates a threat of censorship that by its very existence chills free speech.

I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death.

If there is any truth to the old proverb that "one who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client," the Court now bestows a constitutional right on one to make a fool of himself.

Who is to say that 5 men 10 years ago were right whereas 5 men looking the other direction today are wrong.

In order to get beyond racism, we must first take account of race. There is no other way. And in order to treat some persons equally, we must treat them differently.

Disapproval of homosexuality cannot justify invading the houses, hearts and minds of citizens who choose to live their lives differently.

The states are not free, under the guise of protecting maternal health or potential life, to intimidate women into continuing pregnancies.

In order to get beyond racism, we must first take account of race. There is no other way.

The right of privacy… is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.

From this day forward, I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death.

The death penalty experiment has failed.