The Genius Of The Constitution

The Principle Inherent In The Clause That Prohibits Pointless Infliction Of Excessive Punishment When Less Severe Punishment Can Adequately Achieve The Same Purposes Invalidates The Punishment.

Capital Punishment...treats Members Of The Human Race...as Objects To Be Toyed With And Discarded.

We Current Justices Read The Constitution In The Only Way That We Can: As Twentieth Century Americans. We Look To The History Of The Time Of Framing And To The Intervening History Of Interpretation. But The Ultimate Question Must Be, What Do The Words Of The Text Mean In Our Time. For The Genius Of The Constitution Rests Not In Any Static Meaning It Might Have Had In A World That Is Dead And Gone, But In The Adaptability Of Its Great Principles To Cope With Current Problems And Current Needs.

Consequences Flow From A Justice's Interpretation In A Direct And Immediate Way. A Judicial Decision Respecting The Incompatibility Of Jim Crow With A Constitutional Guarantee Of Equality Is Not Simply A Contemplative Exercise In Defining The Shape Of A Just Society. It Is An Order

We Must Meet The Challenge Rather Than Wish It Were Not Before Us.