Daniel Patrick Moynihan? Robert Lenzer? John Rhoades? Ann Landers? Apocryphal?
Question for Quote Investigator: A society which grants wide liberties and constitutional rights to engage in speech and action will contain people who are performing activities deemed distasteful or reprehensible by many. The following remark is pertinent:
You have to be careful to protect the rights of people you despise.
This statement has been attributed to U.S. politician and diplomat Daniel Patrick Moynihan, but I am having trouble trying to locate a precise citation. Would you please help me?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In November 1996 a “Forbes” magazine article by journalist Robert Lenzer reported on individuals in the U.S. who had acquired great wealth and did not wish to pay taxes. These individuals renounced their U.S. citizenship and became citizens of other countries such as the Bahamas to avoid paying taxes. The term “taxpatriate” was used to describe these people. “Forbes” published comments from Moynihan. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
The matter isn’t settled. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.), the Senate Finance Committee’s ranking Democrat, thinks that treating taxpatriates like illegal immigrants is a bad idea.
“You have to be careful to protect the rights of people you despise,” says Moynihan. “Our legislation which called for a capital gains tax on appreciated assets as the price of expatriation was a fairer way to deal with the problem. What passed was a bad bill.”
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
The comment of Moynihan was memorable, and it was noticed by U.S. District Judge John Rhoades who incorporated the remark within a ruling he wrote about a case in San Diego, California. The controversial case concerned a man who had been accused of facilitating prostitution and violating zoning laws. The “Los Angeles Times” printed the following:2
In a 16-page ruling issued last week, in which he turned down the city’s request for a new trial, U.S. District Judge John Rhoades noted that “those who have commented on the outcome of this case have not had the benefit of listening to the evidence.” . . .
Rhoades invoked a quotation from Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-New York) to explain the importance of the Poppell case: “The point to be driven home is that if your constitutional rights are to remain secure, ‘You have to be careful to protect the rights of people you despise.’”
The Associated Press news service also wrote about this court case and the judge’s ruling:3
“No doubt,” the judge said, “the community at large views the plaintiff himself as the creepy purveyor of indecency.”
But Rhoades added, with a quote from Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y.: “The point to be driven home is that if your constitutional rights are to remain secure, ‘You have to be careful to protect the rights of people you despise.’”
The structure of the quotation above was somewhat complicated. The passage written by Rhoades was surrounded by double quote marks. Nested within this passage was the remark from Moynihan which was surrounded by single quote marks.
In 1997 the widely syndicated advice columnist Ann Landers (Eppie Lederer) reprinted a section of the AP article. Unfortunately, the single quote marks were incorrectly placed. Moynihan received credit for a statement which included words written by Rhoades:4
“But Rhodes invoked a quote from Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan: ‘The point to be driven home is that if your constitutional rights are to remain secure, you have to be careful to protect the rights of people you despise.’”
In conclusion, Daniel Patrick Moynihan deserves credit for the remark under examination. However, Moynihan did not craft the larger statement which included the phrase “your constitutional rights”. That larger statement was written by John Rhoades who incorporated Moynihan’s quotation.
Image Notes: Illustration of a wooden gavel and sounding block from Wesley Tingey at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Russ whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Russ knew that someone named Rhoades had credited the quotation to Moynihan, but Russ did not have a citation and did not know the context.
- 1996 November 18, Forbes, Volume 158, Number 12, And don’t come back by Robert Lenzer, Start Page 44, Quote Page 45, Column 3, Forbes Inc., New York. (Verified with scans) (Note: The magazine was available several days before the cover date; hence, John Rhoades was able to see it before November 17, 1996) ↩︎
- 1996 November 17, Los Angeles Times, Court Win by Owner of Nude Club a Shocker by Tony Perry (Times Staff Writer) (Continuation title: NUDE: Club Owner’s Victory Shocks Many), Start Page A3, Quote Page A49, Column 3 and 4, Los Angeles, California. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1996 November 18, Citizens’ Voice, Nudism promoter wins suit vs. San Diego (AP newswire), Quote Page 13, Column 2 and 3, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1997 June 5, Daily Advocate, Judge praised; the jury is not by Ann Landers (Syndicated), Quote Page 2, Column 5 and 6, Greenville, Ohio. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎