Patrick Leahy Quotes

The privacy and dignity of our citizens are being whittled away by sometimes imperceptible steps. Taken individually, each step may be of little consequence. But when viewed as a whole, there begins to emerge a society quite unlike any we have seen – a society in which government may intrude into the secret regions of a [person's] life.

I was lecturing at the Columbia Journalism School of Education. I asked them about what was happening to the Fourth Amendment. I said, "By the way, do you know what is in the Fourth Amendment?" One student responded, "Is that the right to bear arms?" It's hard to believe these are bright students.

We cannot afford to walk down that dangerous path of government overstepping its boundaries into the most personal parts of our lives.

Americans cherish our liberty and don't want government or corporations to take away our freedoms.

Every American, regardless of their background, has the right to live free of unwarranted government intrusion. Repealing the worst provisions of the Patriot Act will reign in this gross abuse of power and restore to everyone our basic Constitutional rights.

In an age when many of our citizens casually reveal information about themselves in social media wildly beyond anything imaginable only a decade ago, it would seem to be a useful exercise in civics to re-educate the public about the value and purpose of protecting against unwarranted government intrusion.

The people of the FBI are sworn to protect both security and liberty. It isn't a question of conflict. We must care deeply about protecting liberty through due process of law, while also safeguarding the citizens we serve - in every investigation.

When people talked about protecting their privacy when I was growing up, they were talking about protecting it from the government. They talked about unreasonable searches and seizures, about keeping the government out of their bedrooms.

I believe the American people have a genuine and justifiable fear of government intrusion in what they instinctively know is going to be an ever more intrusive world.

A decent government with an effective, but not gratuitously violent, police force and a fair court system are essential. This deters and incapacitates psychopaths, bullies and hotheads - and if it earns the confidence of the people, they don't have to become violent in self-defence.

There is nothing new in the realization that the Constitution sometimes insulates the criminality of a few in order to protect the privacy of us all.

When awesome investigative power is entrusted to so many individuals, it is extremely important that they wield it with a proper regard for your constitutional rights, especially your right to privacy.

For the King, for the people, for the law.

Keep big government out of our bedrooms.

If it can be thought that a Supreme Court Justice can be bought so cheap then the nation is really in trouble.

The most basic building block of any successful government is, first and foremost, a moral authority over the people it leads.

Being attorney general has truly allowed me to be a voice for justice for the people of Illinois and oftentimes the country - and I love it.

Our nation was founded on the principle that our government should be of the people, by the people, and for the people - where all people are treated equally, and with respect, in these United States of America.

The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice.

Where there is law, and where there is government, there is security.

The Republican Party would be well-advised to get the heck out of people's bedrooms.

I think it is in the interest of the people of [Serbia] that no one, not even the government, can get away with the crime, whoever the victim.

[There is] a duty in refusing to cooperate in any undertaking that violates the Constitutional rights of the individual. This holds in particular for all inquisitions that are concerned with the private life and the political affiliations of the citizens.

He was a lifelong Republican, but over the years, Harry Blackmun built a reputation as a liberal, sometimes defiant Justice, whose fierce protection of individual rights led some to anoint him the moral conscience of the court.

When the American people find out how their government has secretly interpreted the Patriot Act, they will be stunned and they will be angry.