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.
That's what justice represents to me - it's about empowerment of the people.
Because no one has the right to deny another their life, even though they disagree with it, because everyone has the right to live the life they so desire if it doesn't harm another and because discrimination has no place in America, my vote will be for equality and against Proposition 8.
The jury system has come to stand for all we mean by English justice. The scrutiny of 12 honest jurors provides defendants and plaintiffs alike a safeguard from arbitrary perversion of the law.
In the area of economic justice, we still have a long way to go. We have too many people who are discriminated against just because they happen to be black or they happen to be a woman or some other minority.
To allow injustice and inequality invites a Ferguson to your community. We must stand together, black, white, brown, red, and yellow and fight for justice and equality for all. It's the only way to avoid more Fergusons.
Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion.
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