Punishing Desecration Of The Flag Dilutes The

The Calculated Killing Of A Human Being By The State Involves, By Its Very Nature, An Absolute Denial Of The Executed Person's Humanity. The Most Vile Murder Does Not, In My View, Release The State From Constitutional Restraint On The Destruction Of Human Dignity.

The Concept Of Military Necessity Is Seductively Broad, And Has A Dangerous Plasticity. Because They Invariably Have The Visage Of Overriding Importance, There Is Always A Temptation To Invoke Security "necessities" To Justify An Encroachment Upon Civil Liberties. For That Reason, The Military-security Argument Must Be Approached With A Healthy Skepticism.

You In The Media Ought To Be Ashamed Of Yourselves To Call The Provisions And The Guarantees Of The Bill Of Rights 'technicalities'. They're Not. We Are What We Are Because Of Those Guarantees.

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.

Law Cannot Stand Aside From The Social Changes Around It.