Those who peacefully gather to express sympathy for the family of Michael Brown must have their rights respected at all times. And journalists must not be harassed or prevented from covering a story that needs to be told.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of respecting the rights of peaceful assembly and the press in the context of social issues.
In this quote, Eric Holder highlights the crucial role of peaceful protests in expressing sympathy, in this case for the family of Michael Brown, as well as the duty to uphold the rights of journalists to report on significant events. He asserts that both the right to gather peacefully and the freedom of the press are foundational to democracy and must be protected, particularly in times of social unrest.
In practice
During a press conference on civil rights, this quote can be referenced to emphasize the importance of protecting free speech.
While he was in the service, in the South and in Oklahoma, he was refused service at a couple of places where he was in uniform, and was told that African Americans, blacks, Negros, were not served. And in spite of that, I've never known a man who loved this country more than my father did.
Guantanamo is a chief recruiting tool for al-Qaida. It has put a wedge between the United States and at least some of its allies.
Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and I believe continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards
In a lot of ways, civil rights division is the conscience of the Justice Department. You can almost measure what kind of Justice Department you have by what kind of civil rights division that you have.
One of the things I learned is that you've got to deal with the underlying social problems if you want to have an impact on crime - that it's not a coincidence that you see the greatest amount of violent crime where you see the greatest amount of social dysfunction.
Communities of color don't understand what it means to be a police officer, the fear that police officers have in just being on the streets.
We refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.
Almost one in three Americans has had some contact with the criminal justice system. When you reach that saturation point, people begin to understand, in a very visceral way, the difficulties of reentry.
I am much happier fighting for justice than I ever was fighting for money.
I think it's useful to recall that a lot of these statutes like 'disrupting the classroom' or 'disturbing the peace' have long been historically used to oppress and criminalize black people.
Because the Illinois death penalty system is arbitrary and capricious - and therefore immoral - I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death.
A private soldier has as much right to justice as a major-general.
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