William J. Brennan

“ I agree that the separation and return of these materials should proceed without delay. Furthermore, even if, under the Act, this process can occur only after the issuance of regulations under § 104 that are subject to congressional approval, surely regulations covering this narrow subject matter need not take long to effectuate.
Also, § 104 (a) (7) suggests that the private materials to be returned to Mr. Nixon are limited to those that "are not otherwise of general historical significance." ”

“ And for that reason, we suggest that the attack at this time is premature, because the statute, in recognizing the right of privacy, is facially adequate. And the attack that was made the day after it became effective brought to this Court a marvelous opportunity to speculate about what might happen, but the regulations haven't even been promulgated and acquiesced in so that they have become effective. ”

“ Gettysburg Electric R. Co., [/us/160/668/case.html 160 U.S. 668] (1896) ; Roe v. Kansas, [/us/278/191/case.html 278 U.S. 191] (1929) ; but whatever may be true of the great bulk of the materials in the event they are declared to be Mr. Nixon's property, I doubt that the Government is entitled to his purely private communications merely because it wants to preserve them and offers compensation.
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"QUESTION: Well now, suppose Mr. Nixon has prepared a diary every day and put down what, exactly what he did, and let's suppose that someone thought that was a purely personal account. ”