Originally Posted by Missouri Mule:
In 1949, Justice Jackson (he was not the chief justice) finished a fiery dissenting opinion in Terminiello v. City of Chicago (1949) with these words: "There is danger that, if the court does not temper its doctrinaire logic with a little practical wisdom, it will convert the constitutional Bill of Rights into a suicide pact."
In the case, a fellow named Terminiello, who claimed to be a Catholic priest, gave a hate-filled public speech blasting "Communistic Zionist Jews, FDR, Queen Eleanor" Roosevelt ("one of the world's communists") and others. Protesters demonstrated against him, violence broke out, and Terminiello was charged with disorderly conduct. At the trial, the judge told the jury Terminiello could be found guilty if the jury concluded his speech brought about a condition of unrest.
Terminiello was convicted and appealed. The Supreme Court eventually ruled for Terminiello in a 5-4 decision, saying the judge's instruction had infringed upon the defendant's right of free speech. In his dissent, Jackson insisted that Terminiello's agitprop had gone beyond the bounds of protected speech and the state had the right to lock him up. Jackson's point was Ashcroft's point: Extremism in the name of civil liberties could lead to the destruction of the nation.
Then, 14 years later in Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez (1963), Justice Goldberg wrote, "[W]hile the Constitution protects against invasions of individual rights, it is not a suicide pact."