Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. The humblest is the peer of the most powerful.
John Marshall HarlanRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The law treats everyone equally, regardless of their background, when it comes to civil rights.
This quote by John Marshall Harlan emphasizes the principle of equality in the eyes of the law. It asserts that a person's rights should not be influenced by their environment or race, but rather, the law should uphold and protect these rights universally, as laid out by the fundamental legal framework of the country.
Themes
EqualityLawJusticeCivil RightsRaceSupreme Law
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote during a civil rights seminar to highlight the importance of legal equality.
More from John Marshall Harlan
All quotes →The humblest is the peer of the most powerful.
John Marshall HarlanRead
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.
John Marshall HarlanRead
The Constitution is colorblind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.
John Marshall HarlanRead
Similar quotes
Charity is no substitute for justice. If we never challenge a social order that allows some to accumulate wealth--even if they decide to help the less fortunate--while others are short-changed, then even acts of kindness end up supporting unjust arrangements. We must never ignore the injustices that make charity necessary, or the inequalities that make it possible.
Michael Eric DysonRead
Fill the seats of justice with good men, not so absolute in goodness as to forget what human frailty is.
Thomas Noon TalfourdRead
Death row is a nightmare to serial killers and ax murderers. For an innocent man, it's a life of mental torture that the human spirit is not equipped to survive.
John GrishamRead
Mass incarceration and its never-ending human toll will be with us until we come to see that no crime justifies permanent civic death.
James Forman, Jr.Read
Rule-following, legal precedence, and political consistency are not more important than right, justice and plain common-sense.
W. E. B. Du BoisRead
If you don't like affirmative action, what is your plan to guarantee a level playing field of opportunity?
Maynard JacksonRead