William O. Douglas

Name: Adler v. Board of Education — Dissent
Author: William O. Douglas

Summary

“Adler v. Board of Education — Dissent”, is a work by William O. Douglas. It explores elements such as teacher, organization and membership in the organization.

Quotes from Adler v. Board of Education — Dissent (William O. Douglas)

William O. Douglas, Adler v. Board of Education — Dissent

“ This, I think, is what happens when a censor looks over a teacher's shoulder. This system of spying and surveillance with its accompanying reports and trials cannot go hand in hand with academic freedom. It produces standardized thought, not the pursuit of truth. Yet it was the pursuit of truth which the First Amendment was designed to protect. A system which directly or inevitably has that effect is alien to our system and should be struck down. Its survival is a real threat to our way of life. We need be bold and adventuresome in our thinking to survive. ”

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Source: Wikisource

William O. Douglas, Adler v. Board of Education — Dissent

“ Of course the school systems of the country need not become cells for Communist activities; and the classrooms need not become forums for propagandizing the Marxist creed. But the guilt of the teacher should turn on overt acts. So long as she is a law-abiding citizen, so long as her performance within the public school system meets professional standards, her private life, her political philosophy, her social creed should not be the cause of reprisals against her. ”

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Source: Wikisource

William O. Douglas, Adler v. Board of Education — Dissent

“ But in that hearing the finding as to the 'subversive' character of the organization apparently may not be reopened in order to allow her to show the truth of the matter. The irrebuttable charge that the organization is 'subversive' therefore hangs as an ominous cloud over her own hearing. The mere fact of membership in the organization raises a prima facie case of her own guilt. She may, it is said, show her innocence. But innocence in this case turns on knowledge; and when the witch hunt is on, one who must rely on ignorance leans on a feeble reed. ”

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Source: Wikisource

William O. Douglas, Adler v. Board of Education — Dissent

“ A problem can no longer be pursued with impunity to its edges. Fear stalks the classroom. The teacher is no longer a stimulant to adventurous thinking; she becomes instead a pipe line for safe and sound information. ”

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Source: Wikisource

William O. Douglas, Adler v. Board of Education — Dissent

“ I cannot for example find in our constitutional scheme the power of a state to place its employees in the category of second-class citizens by denying them freedom of thought and expression. The Constitution guarantees freedom of thought and expression to everyone in our society. ”

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Source: Wikisource

William O. Douglas, Adler v. Board of Education — Dissent

“ The very threat of such a procedure is certain to raise havoc with academic freedom. Youthful indiscretions, mistaken causes, misguided enthusiasms-all long forgotten-become the ghosts of a harrowing present. ”

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Source: Wikisource

William O. Douglas, Adler v. Board of Education — Dissent

“ Any organization committed to a liberal cause, any group organized to revolt against an hysterical trend, any committee launched to sponsor an unpopular program becomes suspect. These are the organizations into which Communists often infiltrate. Their presence infects the whole, even though the project was not conceived in sin. A teacher caught in that mesh is almost certain to stand condemned. Fearing condemnation, she will tend to shrink from any association that stirs controversy. ”

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Source: Wikisource

William O. Douglas, Adler v. Board of Education — Dissent

“ A school system producing students trained as robots threatens to rob a generation of the versatility that has been perhaps our greatest distinction. The Framers knew the danger of dogmatism; they also knew the strength that comes when the mind is free, when ideas may be pursued wherever they lead. ”

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Source: Wikisource

William O. Douglas, Adler v. Board of Education — Dissent

“ The prejudices of the community come into play in searching out the disloyal. This is not the usual type of supervision which checks a teacher's competency; it is a system which searches for hidden meanings in a teacher's utterances. ”

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Source: Wikisource

William O. Douglas, Adler v. Board of Education — Dissent

“ We need be bold and adventuresome in our thinking to survive. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

William O. Douglas, Adler v. Board of Education — Dissent

“ Where suspicion fills the air and holds scholars in line for fear of their jobs, there can be no exercise of the free intellect. Supineness and dogmatism take the place of inquiry. A 'party line'-as dangerous as the 'party line' of the Communists lays hold. ”

William O. Douglas

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Quotes from Adler v. Board of Education — Dissent (William O. Douglas)

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