
1900s, The Strenuous Life: Essays and Addresses (1900), National Duties
"The Federal Prosecutor" (1940)
1900s, The Strenuous Life: Essays and Addresses (1900), National Duties
In Quest of Democracy (1991)
Context: The words 'law and order' have so frequently been misused as an excuse for oppression that the very phrase has become suspect in countries which have known authoritarian rule. [... ] There is no intrinsic virtue to law and order unless 'law' is equated with justice and 'order' with the discipline of a people satisfied that justice has been done. Law as an instrument of state oppression is a familiar feature of totalitarianism. Without a popularly elected legislature and an independent judiciary to ensure due process, the authorities can enforce as 'law' arbitrary decrees that are in fact flagrant negations of all acceptable norms of justice. There can be no security for citizens in a state where new 'laws' can be made and old ones changed to suit the convenience of the powers that be. The iniquity of such practices is traditionally recognized by the precept that existing laws should not be set aside at will.
2000s, The Real Abraham Lincoln: A Debate (2002), The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
“Its fine if the law bans books because government won't really enforce it.”
Widely reported as having been said by Kagan during the Supreme Court oral argument in the Citizens United case in September, 2009; however, this quote does not appear in the actual transcript of the oral argument http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/08-205[Reargued].pdf.
Misattributed
2000s, The Real Abraham Lincoln: A Debate (2002), The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
1920s, Freedom and its Obligations (1924)
Of the two states on the peninsula, I see the South as closer to fitting that bill. There were recent reports of demonstrators around the THAAD site stopping and checking police cars.
2010s, Interview with Joshua Stanton (August 2017)
Speech regarding Civil Liberties and the War on Terrorism (November 20, 2006)