The fact that the Constitution is sufficiently open-ended to infuriate all Americans almost equally is part of its enduring genius. Dahlia Lithwick More Quotes by Dahlia Lithwick More Quotes From Dahlia Lithwick Allowing ourselves to become a nation of silent, secretive, timid citizens is likely to result in a system of democracy and justice that is neither very democratic nor very just. Dahlia Lithwick democracy citizens justice Pulling a crystalline, cogent rule out of the murk of the court's First Amendment, public forum, and Establishment Clause doctrine is an act of creation too complicated for mere mortals. Dahlia Lithwick establishment-clause doctrine firsts The First Aphorism of Religion Cases: Only the religious convictions of other people are weird. Yours are perfectly rational. Dahlia Lithwick religious people firsts The criticism from the other side of [race] debate - and these are not necessarily I think defenders of [Donald] Trump, but they're certainly quick to say, you know, if you're going to live by the race card, you die by the race card. Dahlia Lithwick criticism race thinking Taking legislative authority away from the federal government doesn't necessarily mean freer individuals. It might just mean granting vastly more authority to the states--which already have far broader police powers than most of us would care to admit. Dahlia Lithwick police government mean In [Philip] Howard's view, our reliance on law, lawyers, and lawsuits has turned Americans into fat, neurotic cowards who 'go through the day looking over their shoulder instead of where they want to go.' Dahlia Lithwick coward views law A lot of conservative writers have twisted that argument in the conversation around Judge [Gonzalo] Curiel and said this is identity politics as played by liberals. And that I think what they're trying to say is that progressives are the first to say. Dahlia Lithwick identity-politics judging thinking I think men get nervous when women start counting the number of female senators, and whites become edgy when they hear the next Supreme Court seat will probably go to a Latino. This isn't always because they object to sharing the spoils, by the way; it just reminds us that the melting pot may not be working, and we haven't yet achieved the ambiguous national dream of becoming a nation of indistinguishable beige atheists. Dahlia Lithwick atheist dream men Over the past few years, the Supreme Court was six times more likely to accept cases from an elite group of 66 lawyers than it was from more than 99 percent of those who petitioned the court. That's the finding of a recent Reuters special report called "The Echo Chamber." It illustrates how almost half the appeals accepted by the court over a nine-year period came from this cadre of elite lawyers--many of whom have personal connections to the nine justices. Dahlia Lithwick echoes past years Never believe in any faith younger than you are. Dahlia Lithwick believe Thurgood Marshall was uniquely able to understand and comprehend what it meant to grow up in the Jim Crow south. Dahlia Lithwick crow growing-up able If Americans actually have the conversation about our disastrous prison policies, we'll understand the trends all move in very dangerous directions: we lock up more people, for less violent crime, at ever greater expense, breeding more dangerous criminals who often come out unemployable, violent and isiolated. Dahlia Lithwick locks people moving The Constitution created a framework, not a Ouija board, precisely because the Framers understood that prospect of a nation ruled for centuries by dead prophets would be the very opposite of freedom. Dahlia Lithwick boards would-be opposites The Framers were no more interested in binding future Americans to a set of divinely inspired commandments than any of us would wish to be bound by them. Dahlia Lithwick framers inspired wish I just don't think we think about jurists as rock stars or great thinkers, particularly in the political world. Dahlia Lithwick rocks stars thinking There is no rest stop on the misinformation highway. Dahlia Lithwick misinformation highways There's such a kind of complicated line between politics and the law and we don't sit around and say, hey, you know, what would Oliver Wendell Holmes have had to say to this. Dahlia Lithwick hey lines law I wonder if there's just a sense that we have nothing to learn from any Supreme Court justice, including the great Chief Justice John Marshall. Dahlia Lithwick court wonder justice We don't care what the framers would have thought of violent video games. Times are changing. Dahlia Lithwick times-are-changing video games On a court full of great writers, I shouldn't say full of - there have been some bad writers on the court over the years. Dahlia Lithwick court lost years
