Hugo Black

Name: Wilkinson v. United States — Dissent
Author: Hugo Black

Summary

“Wilkinson v. United States — Dissent”, is a work by Hugo Black. It explores elements such as Committee, petitioner and majority.

Quotes from Wilkinson v. United States — Dissent (Hugo Black)

Hugo Black, Wilkinson v. United States — Dissent

“ Least of all do I believe that such a privilege should be accorded the House Un-American Activities Committee. For I believe that true Americanism is to be protected, not by committees that persecute unorthodox minorities, but by strict adherence to basic principles of freedom that are responsible for this Nation's greatness. Those principles are embodied for all who care to see in our Bill of Rights. They were put there for the specific purpose of preventing just the sort of governmental suppression of criticism that the majority upholds here. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Wilkinson v. United States — Dissent

“ And a vast majority of the members of the other two branches of Government have fared no better. If the mere fact that someone has been called a Communist is to be permitted to satisfy a requirement of probable cause, I think it plain that such a requirement is wholly without value. To impose it would only give apparent respectability to a practice which is inherently in conflict with our concepts of justice and due process.
The other such 'protection' afforded to critics of the Un-American Activities Committee under these decisions is included in the majority's so-called balancing test. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Wilkinson v. United States — Dissent

“ They say instead that it makes no difference whether the Committee was harassing petitioner solely by reason of his opposition to it or not because 'it is not for us to speculate as to the motivations that may have prompted the decision of individual members of the subcommittee to summon the petitioner.' The clear thrust of this sweeping abdication of judicial power is that the Committee may continue to harass its opponents with absolute impunity so long as the 'protections' of Barenblatt are observed. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Wilkinson v. United States — Dissent

“ For all we know, the informant may have had no basis at all for her conclusion and, indeed, the possibility of perjury cannot, in view of its frequent recurrence in these sorts of cases, [9] be entirely discounted. Thus, in my view, the 'protection' afforded by a requirement of some sort of probable cause, even if imposed, is almost totally worthless. In the atmosphere existing in this country today, the charge that someone is a Communist is so common that hardly anyone active in public life escapes it. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Wilkinson v. United States — Dissent

“ With such a powerful weapon in its hands, it seems quite likely that the Committee will weather all criticism, even though justifiable, that may be directed toward it. For there are not many people in our society who will have the courage to speak out against such a formidable opponent. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Wilkinson v. United States — Dissent

“ Government by consent will disappear to be replaced by government by intimidation because some people are afraid that this country cannot survive unless Congress has the power to set aside the freedoms of the First Amendment at will. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Wilkinson v. United States — Dissent

“ This country was not built by men who were afraid and it cannot be preserved by such men. [11] Our Constitution, in unequivocal terms, gives the right to each of us to say what we think without fear of the power of the Government. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Wilkinson v. United States — Dissent

“ In addition to his association with the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee, which is shown by this record, petitioner seems to have been associated with similar organizations in Los Angeles and Chicago. At least he was accused of such associations when he was called before a previous hearing of the Committee in 1956. See Hearings before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, 84th Cong., 2d Sess., at Los Angeles, California, December 5-8, 1956, entitled 'Communist Political Subversion, Part I,' pp. ”

Hugo Black

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Quotes from Wilkinson v. United States — Dissent (Hugo Black)

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