Unconstitutional Quotes
More Unconstitutional Quotes
I say that the Second Amendment doesn't allow for exceptions or else it would have read that the right "to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, unless Congress chooses otherwise." And because there are no exceptions, I disagree with my fellow panelists who say the existing gun laws should be enforced. Those laws are unconstitutional [and] wrong because they put you at a disadvantage to armed criminals, to whom the laws are no inconvenience.
harry browne— Second Amendment rally in Arkansas (2000-08-08)
[I] charged Mr. Pitt with having come into office upon unconstitutional grounds, and upon such principles as were disgraceful to himself, disgusting to the country, and such as must necessarily deprive him and his coadjutors of the confidence of that House.
charles james fox— Speech in the House of Commons (12 January 1784), quoted in L. G. Mitchell, Charles James Fox (London: Penguin, 1997), p. 75.
The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.
henry kissinger— Joking comment, as quoted in The Washington Post (23 December 1973); he later joked further on this remark, on 10 March 1975 saying to Turkish Foreign Minister Melih Esenbel in Ankara, Turkey:
Whatever steps you may feel compelled to take, whether they are constitutional, or whether in the long run they are unconstitutional, you have the whole Unionist Party, under my leadership, behind you.
andrew bonar law— Message sent to Belfast (12 July, 1913).
"If Darl McBride was in charge, he'd probably make marriage unconstitutional too, since clearly it de-emphasizes the commercial nature of normal human interaction, and probably is a major impediment to the commercial growth of prostitution."
darl mcbride— Linus Torvalds
I believe his arrest and detention by the international criminal tribunal is unconstitutional, and goes against Yugoslav and international law. They have no right to try him.
Harold Pinter— On the arrest of Slobodan Miloševi?, as quoted by Fiachra Gibbons, in "Free Milosevic, says Pinter", The Guardian (26 July 2001).
We will submit legislation to the United States Senate which will...authorize the Congress to undertake judicial review of those signing statements with the view to having the president’s acts declared unconstitutional.
arlen specter— Preparing a bill to allow Congress to sue the president in federal court (July 24, 2006) [2]
The mark of a single currency is not only that all other currencies must be extinguished but that the capacity of other institutions to issue currencies must also be extinguished...In the case of the United Kingdom, that would involve Parliament binding its successors in a way that it has hitherto regarded as unconstitutional.
norman tebbit— To the House of Commons (30 October, 1990).
We're very pleased that Judge White recognized the serious constitutional concerns raised by his earlier orders. Attempting to interfere with the operation of an entire website because you have a dispute over some of its content is never the right approach. Disabling access to an Internet domain in an effort to prevent the world from accessing a handful of widely-discussed documents is not only unconstitutional it simply won't work.
— Matt Zimmerman, Electronic Frontier Foundation senior staff attorney, commenting on Bank Julius Baer vs. Wikileaks — reported in Chapman, Glenn (March 3, 2008). "Wikileaks champions whistle blowing after US court triumph". Agence France-Presse.
Striking down an insulting, discriminatory, unconstitutional law will not, as Santorum fears, open the doors to incest, adultery, bigamy, and bestiality. Straight people blew those doors off their hinges long, long ago.
dan savage— "Savage Love Family Ties". The Stranger (May 8, 2003).
An unconstitutional act is not law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties; affords no protection; it creates no office; it is in legal contemplation, as inoperative as though it had never been passed.
— J. Chase, writing the opinion in Norton vs. Shelby County, 118 U.S. 425 p.442
