The Lesson From Supreme Court Justices Changing Their Minds
The following is an excerpt from Chapter 6, “Be Open to Change,” of my book Habits of a Peacemaker:
In the introduction, I mentioned the 1943 Barnette case, in which the Supreme Court ruled that school districts could not force Jehovah’s Witness children to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I return to that now to illustrate an important principle. The case is remarkable for a number of reasons. It represents the foundation and, arguably, the founding of our modern understanding of freedom of speech and thought. It included what is often considered to be some of the most powerful language regarding the limits of government action in the modern era. In addition to what I shared in the introduction, it includes some of these important gems:
If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. If there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us.
Or this, when talking about our constitutional system and how it limits government from having power in certain areas of our lives:
Government of limited power need not be anemic government. Assurance that rights are secure tends to diminish fear and jealousy of strong government, and by making us feel safe to live under it makes for its better support. Without promise of a limiting Bill of Rights it is doubtful if our Constitution could have mustered enough strength to enable its ratification. To enforce those rights today is not to choose weak government over strong government…. Observance of limitations of the Constitution will not weaken government in the field appropriate for its exercise.
And, finally, this sentence, explaining the purposes of the Bill of Rights:
The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain s
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