July 1, 1969
Page 17987
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, a great many years will pass before a definitive assessment can be made of the Warren Court. It is too early to sum up the career of Chief Justice Warren, for he is still a vigorous man whose active life is far from over.
But it is not too soon to acknowledge the immense contribution he has made to justice in America, and to the belief that social progress can be made under the rule of law.
That belief is under fire today. Some of our citizens, frustrated by the continuing inequities in American life, have rejected the law in favor of violence. Their destructiveness has produced fear and outrage and a demand for the rough suppression of dissent. There is a deep pessimism in the air – a profound doubt as to the ability of this rich, free nation to provide conditions of order, liberty, and opportunity for all its people.
There are those who say, and perhaps believe, that the Warren Court is in part responsible for this sense of bitter unrest: that it has unleashed great passions among minorities, which threaten the security of the majority; that it has tied the hands of lawful authority in dealing with crime; that it has been unduly responsive to the rights of the individual, and oblivious to the rights of society.
This argument seems to me to confuse, not only the nature of history, but the principles on which our Republic was founded.
Can anyone believe, that in the absence of judicial attacks on racial segregation, minorities in America would have remained forever content with second-class citizenship? Can anyone seriously contend that over twenty million Negro Americans would have accepted the continuing insult of segregation, if the Supreme Court had not found it unconstitutional?
And whatever may be our reservations about particular decisions of the Court in the field of law enforcement, can we really believe that we would have the kind of America we want if police power were wholly unrestrained? The protection of individual rights is not just the concern of criminal defendants. It is central to the American idea. It is the bone and marrow of our democracy.
At a time when the political agencies of government were paralyzed, the Supreme Court, under Chief Justice Warren, moved to end the blight of racial segregation.
At a time when political popularity seemed to require men to speak scornfully of the rights of criminal defendants, the Supreme Court, under Chief Justice Warren, reminded us that where those rights are ignored, the rights of law-abiding citizens are themselves put in jeopardy.
At a time when being disenfranchised for reasons of race or geography was widely tolerated, the Supreme Court, under Chief Justice Warren, insisted that a free man's right to vote is a full right or it is no right at all.
Thus it seems to me, Mr. President, that far from having caused the troubles we know in our country today, the Supreme Court has helped to make possible the eventual and just resolution of those troubles. It has reminded us of who we are, and of what the democratic ideal requires us to be.
The Court itself has often been divided, as seems inevitable in the face of the grueling issues that have faced it. Yet, throughout this tumultuous period, the figure of Chief Justice Warren has remained before us with a kind of serenity. A man of generosity and compassion, he represents the enduring values of our country, its faith in justice, tolerance, and individual dignity. He has helped to keep alive the idea that democratic government is responsive to the needs of all its people.
Long after the calumny that has sometimes been hurled at him has ended, the mark he has made on American life will remain. It is the mark of one who sought to do justice unto his fellow men, and to help each of them stand boldly and freely as men are meant to do.