The Valpo Core Reader
 

Authors

Heidi Meyer

Document Type

Freshman Seminar Essay

Publication Date

1990

Excerpt

When Judge Learned Hand stressed the importance of an open mind in 1952, McCarthyism was sweeping across America and many saw in Hand's stirring words the answer to narrow-mindedness. If people had been more openminded, they might not have been so quick to believe in McCarthy and his long lists of so-called Communists. If people had been more open-minded during the Salem witch trials, those so-called witches might not have been executed. Trust and confidence in our democratic system, our freedoms, and one another is based on having open minds, said Learned Hand in urging a concept still relevant and fitting 38 years later.

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