Question:

Can you interpret this quote for me, please..!?

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"To declare that the end justifies the means, to declare that the government may commit crimes, would bring terrible retribution."

– Justice Louis D. Brandeis

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  1. There would be terrible repercussions if the gov't. chose to ignore the law to achieve its ends.Our Constitution, the law of the land, is designed to keep our gov't from ignoring the rule of law as strives to achieve the ends it desires.


  2. "the end justifies the means" - this part says that if a goal is great enough it doesn't matter what you do to achieve it, even if what you do is illegal

    "to declare that the government may commit crimes" - this means that someone says it is okay for the government to break the law if the reason is good enough

    "would bring terrible retribution" - there would be paybacks and revenge if we allow our government to say that breaking the law is okay for them as long as it is for a good cause

    Reminds me of when we imprisoned all the Japanese-Americans in World War II because we were afraid they might be spies or secret agents, even though our own Constitution says it is not legal to lock people up based on suspicions without due process.  

    Or to allow "government,"  which is actually just people with power, to decide who gets to ride on an airplane based on their last name.

    It legalizes many forms of discrimination because the excuse is that it is for the good of the country.

  3. A great web site with tons of useful quotations

    http://www.5000quotations.com

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