Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds.
Thurgood MarshallRead
When in Gregg v. Georgia the Supreme Court gave its seal of approval to capital punishment, this endorsement was premised on the promise that capital punishment would be administered with fairness and justice. Instead, the promise has become a cruel and empty mockery. If not remedied, the scandalous state of our present system of capital punishment will cast a pall of shame over our society for years to come. We cannot let it continue.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques the failure of capital punishment to be fair and just, warning of its negative impact on society.
Thurgood Marshall's quote highlights the stark contrast between the Supreme Court's initial approval of capital punishment, which was expected to be applied with fairness and justice, and the reality of how it has been executed, now seen as a cruel system devoid of true justice. Marshall argues that if this troubling situation persists, it will leave a lasting negative mark on society, emphasizing the urgent need for reform in the capital punishment system to uphold ethical standards of justice.
Themes
Capital PunishmentJusticeFairnessSocietyReform
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a debate about the ethics of the death penalty.
More from Thurgood Marshall
All quotes →The United States has been called the melting pot of the world. But it seems to me that the colored man either missed getting into the pot or he got melted down.
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I cannot accept this invitation [to celebrate the bicentenial of the Constitution], for I do not believe that the meaning of the Constitution was forever 'fixed' at the Philadelphia Convention... To the contrary, the government they devised was defective from the start. [Progressive]
Thurgood MarshallRead
If the First Amendment means anything, it means that a state has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his house, what books he may read or what films he may watch.
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In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.
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I have a lifetime appointment and I intend to serve it. I expect to die at 110, shot by a jealous husband.
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