A person's mere propinquity to others independently suspected of criminal activity does not give rise to probable cause to search that person.
Potter Stewart

Abortion is inherently different from other medical procedures because no other procedure involves the purposeful termination of a potential life.
Potter Stewart

Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself.
Potter Stewart

Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.
Potter Stewart

Fairness is what justice really is.
Potter Stewart

I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material but I know it when I see it.
Potter Stewart

In fact, a fundamental interdependence exists between the personal right to liberty and the personal right to property.
Potter Stewart

It must always be remembered that what the Constitution forbids is not all searches and seizures, but unreasonable searches and seizures.
Potter Stewart

Swift justice demands more than just swiftness.
Potter Stewart

The 4th Amendment and the personal rights it secures have a long history. At the very core stands the right of a man to retreat into his own home and there be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion.
Potter Stewart


The dichotomy between personal liberties and property rights is a false one. Property does not have rights. People have rights.
Potter Stewart

To force a lawyer on a defendant can only lead him to believe that the law contrives against him.
Potter Stewart