Sadiq Kahn Quotes

In a democracy, the citizens are supposed to have all the power, and the government is supposed to be the means by which the citizens exercise that power. But when you have a surveillance state, the state has all the power, and citizens have very little.

National security is the first duty of government but we are also committed to reversing the substantial erosion of civil liberties.

My office has been one of the most scrupulous in the country with regard to the protection of individual rights. I've been on record for years in law journals and books as championing the rights of the individual against the oppressive power of the state.

Our privacy, our rights as citizens - these are ideals that we Americans hold very dear.

I've made sure that I've stood for privacy and the rights of the people time and time again.

I have a personal belief that you never have to give up liberty for security. You can still provide security without sacrificing our Bill of Rights.

[There is] a duty in refusing to cooperate in any undertaking that violates the Constitutional rights of the individual. This holds in particular for all inquisitions that are concerned with the private life and the political affiliations of the citizens.

Nobody needs to justify why they "need" a right: the burden of justification falls on the one seeking to infringe upon the right. But even if they did, you can't give away the rights of others because they're not useful to you. More simply, the majority cannot vote away the natural rights of the minority. Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say.

A government capable of controlling the whole, and bringing its force to a point, is one of the prerequisites for national liberty. We combine in society, with an expectation to have our persons and properties defended against unreasonable exactions either at home or abroad.

I do think that our freedoms are at risk.

Free speech is the cornerstone to every right we have.

I do not subscribe to the doctrine that the people are the slaves and property of their government. I believe that government is for the use of the people, and not the people for the use of the government.

Government should work to insure the rights of the individual, not plot to take them away.

But America was founded on the principle that every person has God-given rights. That power belongs to the people. That government exists to protect our rights and serve our interests. That we shouldn't be trapped in the circumstances of our birth. That we should be free to go as far as our talents and work can take us.

I strongly believe that we as a nation can be both secure and free.

Americans need to understand the significance of having their civil liberties dismantled. It doesn't just affect terrorists and foreigners, it affects us all.

The people know their rights, and they are never slow to assert and maintain them when they are invaded.

Free societies are societies in which the right of dissent is protected.

The government continues to erode our freedom.

We live in a free world, so everyone can say whatever.

Liberty does not exist where rights are on one side and power on the other. To be liberty, rights must be armed with vital powers. A people cannot be free who do not participate in the control of the government which operates upon them.

The democratic state can sometimes abuse its power as much as those who seek to destroy it abuse fundamental rights and democratic practices.

The right to personal privacy is precious. Without it, we are all potential victims for a prying secret police.

Privacy isn't negotiable. It's the right of every American.

We must not allow the practices of an anti-democratic State that abuses the powers of government to violate the human rights of Venezuelans.