“The critical point is that the Constitution places the right of silence beyond the reach of government.”

— William O. Douglas

Dissenting, Ullmann v. United States, 350 U.S. 422 (1956)
Judicial opinions

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William O. Douglas 52

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States 1898–1980

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5; variant translations:
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Variant: From a certain point onward there is no longer any turning back. That is the point that must be reached.
Source: The Trial

“Beyond a certain point - and that point is reached early - precision is what expressiveness depends on.”

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“Wherever the government goes, the Constitution goes, and wherever the Constitution goes, the protections that it guarantees restrain the government and requires it to protect those rights.”

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Judge Napolitano on Hannity and Colmes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bejmEG_t9mI, discussing the Supreme Court rulings on the scope of the protections in the Constitution.
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“To silence criticism is to silence freedom.”

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New York Times Magazine (30 September 1951)

“The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials, and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts.”

Robert H. Jackson (1892–1954) American judge

319 U.S. 638
Judicial opinions, West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)
Context: The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials, and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts. One's right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections.