The Wit and Wisdom of Ted Kennedy - Bill Adler [9]
—Statement on Affirmative Action,
January 15, 2003
I hope for an America where no president, no public official, no individual will ever be deemed a greater or lesser American because of religious doubt—or religious belief.
—Speech at Liberty University,
October 3, 1983
In light of the ideological-driven selection of judicial nominees, it would be wrong to ask Senators to ignore the nominee’s ideology. Neither the constitution itself nor historical practice demands blindness to this ideological pattern of nominations. Judicial nominees who come before the Senate should have not only the qualifications and temperament to be a judge. They should also be committed to democratic principles and ideals. Nominees should respect our judicial system and the co-equal relationship between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
—Remarks at the American Constitution Society’s
conference on “The State of the Judiciary,”
September 25, 2002
The real transgression occurs when religion wants government to tell citizens how to live uniquely personal parts of their lives. The failure of Prohibition proves the futility of such an attempt when a majority or even a substantial minority happens to disagree. Some questions may be inherently individual ones, or people may be sharply divided about whether they are. In such cases, like Prohibition and abortion, the proper role of religion is to appeal to the conscience of the individual, not the coercive power of the state.
—Speech at Liberty University,
October 3, 1983
We must end the continuing blatant discrimination in our voting laws. If I could, I would lock every door in the Supreme Court but one, and require all nine justices to enter every morning through the majestic main door above which are inscribed in marble the four simple, basic words that are the foundation of America and always will be: “Equal Justice Under Law.” Because when we say “all,” we must mean “all.”
—Remarks on Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday,
Peoples Congregational United Church of Christ,
January 14, 2001
Too often, “Equal Justice Under Law” has been reduced to an empty slogan for too many. It is wrong to leave people powerless against injustice because they can’t afford the kind of justice that is there for the asking by the wealthy. A right without a remedy is no right at all.
—Remarks on Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday,
Peoples Congregational United Church of Christ,
January 14, 2001
While economic growth is important to all Americans, it is absolutely essential for black Americans. It is the indispensible condition of black progress. Other groups may have achieved a level of comfort for themselves, but they have no right to stop the engines of growth before others have begun to board the train.
—Speech, May 7, 1978
Much remains to be done to secure equal opportunity for women. Enactment of the Equal Rights Amendment alone will not undo generations of economic injustice, but it will encourage women in all parts of the country in their efforts to obtain fairness under the nation’s laws.
—Statement on the Equal Rights Amendment,
March 22, 2001
After two hundred years I think it is safe to say that women in America are now demanding full equality in every aspect of American life. And after two hundred years I think they have every right to expect it. Nor can this nation afford to deny it.
—Speech, May 18, 1976
In the rapid pace of society and its emphasis on youth and mobility, the handicapped have been left behind, relegated to the backwaters of society, ostracized by their contemporaries, victimized by unfair attitudes of discrimination.
—Speech, June 28, 1978
In June, in its landmark decision in Lawrence v. Texas, the Supreme Court struck down a Texas law that made homosexual conduct a crime. … Predictably, the Court’s decision has been denounced by some of our colleagues in Congress. The Republican Policy Committee in the Senate recently published a paper declaring that the decision “gave aid and comfort” to “activist lawyers” who seek to “force same-sex