William O. Douglas

“ The practice of using faceless informers has apparently spread through a vast domain. It is used not only to get rid of employees in the Government, but also employees who work for private firms having contracts with the Government. [1] It has touched countless hundreds of men and women and ruined many. It is an un-American practice which we should condemn. It deprives men of 'liberty' within the meaning of the Fifth Amendment, for one of man's most precious liberties is his right to work. When a man is deprived of that 'liberty' without a fair trial, he is denied due process. ”

“ We deal here with the reputation of men and their right to work-things more precious than property itself. We have here a system where government with all its power and authority condemns a man to a suspect class and the outer darkness, without the rudiments of a fair trial. ”

“ But once they are used to destroy a man's reputation and deprive him of his 'liberty,' they must be put to the test of due process of law. The use of faceless informers is wholly at war with that concept. When we relax our standards to accommodate the faceless informer, we violate our basic constitutional guarantees and ape the tactics of those whom we despise. ”