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The law regards man as man, and takes no account of his surroundings or of his color when his civil rights as guaranteed by the supreme law of the land are involved.

— John Marshall Harlan

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Justice

More quotes by John Marshall Harlan

Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

The arbitrary separation of citizens on the basis of race while they are on a public highway is a badge of servitude wholly inconsistent with the civil freedom and the equality before the law established by the Constitution. It cannot be justified upon any legal grounds.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

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James H. Cone Speaking the Truth: Ecumenism, Liberation, and Black Theology (1986)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: John Marshall Harlan (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.