Wendell Willkie Quotes

I take it that any statute which is not equal to all, and which deprives any citizen of civil rights, which are secured to other citizens, is an unjust encroachment upon his liberty; and it is in fact a badge of servitude which by the Constitution is prohibited

Each state, so that it does not abridge the great fundamental rights belonging, under the Constitution, to all citizens, may grant or withhold such civil rights as it pleases; all that is required is that, in this respect, its laws shall be impartial.

Secure to all … citizens a perfect equality of rights

The Constitution has a good share of deliberately open-ended guarantees, like rights to due process of law, equal protection of the law, and freedom from unreasonable searches.

Our constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.

The law regards man as man, and takes no account of his surroundings or of his color when his civil rights as guaranteed by the supreme law of the land are involved.

The very idea of marriage is basic to recognition as equals in our society; any status short of that is inferior, unjust, and unconstitutional.

I cannot believe that the American people and the people they elected would use the Constitution to stifle any group's rights.

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Every citizen has, under the law, a sacred and inviolable right to personal liberty and to the possession of his goods

The Constitution doesn’t say that whites alone shall have our basic rights.., but that we shall all have them

In view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here. Our Constitution is colorblind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.

But in view of the constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here.

The purpose that brought the fourteenth amendment into being was equality before the law, and equality, not separation, was written into the law.

Our constitution protects aliens, drunks and U.S. Senators.

The Constitution, as originally drawn, made no reference to the fact that all Americans wre considered equal members of society.

The Constitution did not mention women when it was first written, and it still doesn't.

Like a majority of Americans in recent years, I came to understand that fear of homosexuality was leading our governments - including the one I ran as Governor of Mississippi - to deny the equal rights to an entire segment of our population that are afforded all of us under the Constitution.

History has shown us that, on extraordinarily rare occasions, it becomes necessary for the federal government to intervene on behalf of individuals whose 14th Amendment rights to legal due process and equal protection may be violated by a state.

Minorities have a right to appeal to the Constitution as a shield against such oppression.

I only ask of the government to be treated as all other men are treated.

The critical point is that the Constitution places the right of silence beyond the reach of government.

It's one of the nice things about this nation that when the Constitution is violated, if it affects you, you can bring a suit.

Syria, for all its problems, at least has a constitution that guarantees equal protection of citizens. Around the world, we have seen that this is essential where Christians are a minority and are not protected.

What I have advocated is that we pass law in this country that says all human life at every stage of its development is worthy of protection. In fact, I think that law already exists. It is called the Constitution of the United States.