“Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.”

“Islamic governments … are established as they [always] have been by pen and gun[,] by word and bullet[,] by tongue and teeth.”

“Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority. … The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime…”

“When you had a bomb outrage, and there are pictures of bodies [shown] to distressed and weeping relatives, and the next thing that happens on the screen, in people's living rooms, is somebody saying, ‘I support the armed struggle’ or ‘They deserved it’ – that I think is not only offensive, but it's wrong and it's perfectly reasonable to remove that.”

“A person is guilty of an offence if he (a) uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour, or (b) displays any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening, abusive or insulting, within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby.”

“To refer to the more or less indiscriminate storing of information relating to the private lives of individuals in terms of pursuing a legitimate national security concern is … problematic.”

“We must build a ‘system of systems’ that can provide the right information to the right people at all times. Information will be shared ‘horizontally’ across each level of government and ‘vertically’ among federal, state and local governments, private industry, and citizens.… We will leverage America's leading-edge information technology to develop an information architecture that will effectively secure the homeland.”

“The act of turning the military loose on civilians even if sanctioned by an Act of Congress, which it has not been, would raise serious and profound constitutional questions. Standing as it does only on brute power and Pentagon policy, it must be repudiated as a usurpation dangerous to the civil liberties on which free men are dependent.

“[The enemy moves in] a shadowy underworld operating globally with supporters and allies in many countries. Including, unfortunately our own.… Contrary to popular belief, there is no absolute ban on [military] intelligence components collecting US person information.”

“You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it.”

“[A] foreign entity without property or presence in this country has no constitutional rights, under the due process clause or otherwise.”

“It is during our most challenging and uncertain moments that our nation's commitment to due process is most severely tested; and it is in those times that we must preserve our commitment at home to the principles for which we fight abroad.”

“President George W. Bush's order freezing terrorist assets is directed as much against international banks and governments as Osama bin Laden's network.”

“No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.”

“The use of force, mental torture, threats, insults, or exposure to unpleasant and inhumane treatment of any kind is prohibited by law and is neither authorized nor condoned by the US Government. Experience indicates that the use of force is not necessary to gain the cooperation of sources for interrogation. Therefore, the use of force is a poor technique, as it yields unreliable results, may damage subsequent collection efforts, and can induce the source to say whatever he thinks the interrogator wants to hear.”

“[Al Qaeda members attacked] purely civilian targets of no military value; they refused to wear uniform or insignia or carry arms openly, but instead hijacked civilian airliners, took hostages, and killed them; they have deliberately targeted and killed thousands of civilians; and they themselves do not obey the laws of war concerning the protection of the lives of civilians or the means of legitimate combat.”

“Some argue that since our actions are not as horrifying as Al Qaeda's we should not be concerned. When did Al Qaeda become any type of standard by which we measure the morality of the United States? We are America, and our actions should be held to a higher standard, the ideals expressed in documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.”

“If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”

“In times of danger, the weight of concerns for public safety increases relative to that of liberty concerns, and civil liberties are narrowed. In safer times, the balance shifts the other way and civil liberties are broadened.”

“Civil liberties are a vital part of our country, and of our world. But the most basic liberty of all is the right of the ordinary citizen to go about their business free from fear or terror.”

“I think that the [1974] Terrorism Act helped to both steady opinion and to provide some additional protection. I do not regret having introduced it. But I would have been horrified to have been told at the time that it would still be law nearly two decades later … It should teach one to be careful about justifying something on the ground that it is only for a short time.”