"Lady Justice is portrayed with a blindfold for a reason (p. 7)."
"With a republic comes responsibility. Self-government is a hard business... To succeed where so many others had failed, the framers understood that our republic needs citizens who know how their government works--and who are capable of, and interested in, participating in its administration. We won't always agree about the right policies for the day. That's to be expected, even treasured. After all, the capacity to express, debate, and test all ideas is part of what makes a republic strong (p. 7)."
"This republic belongs to us all--and it is up to all of us to keep it (p. 8)."
"To ensure that the laws able to survive this careful process are vigorously enforced, the framers gave the power to execute the law to a single president rather than trust management by committee--but they also sought to ensure that the president could never arrogate the power to make laws or judge persons under them (p. 9)."
"When it comes to the business of judging, our separation of powers makes clear that a judge's task is not to pursue his own policy vision for the country, whether in the name of some political creed, social science theory, or any other consideration extrinsic to the law (p. 10)."
"How can a self-governing people rule themselves if so many do not understand how our government works or the limits on its powers? How can we expect our own rights to be protected if we are not willing to respect the rights of others in return (p. 11)?"
"To serve the American people on our highest court is a humbling responsibility. In our history, only 114 men and women have done so (p. 17)."
"A government of and by the people rests on the belief that the people should and can govern themselves--and do so in peace, with mutual respect (p. 20)."
"'We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection (Lincoln, p. 20).'"
"The essential goodness of the American people is a profound reservoir of strength, and this nation has overcome much graver challenges time and again. But we should never ignore the fact that republics have a mixed record in the history books. Our blessings cannot be taken for granted and need constant tending (p. 21)."
"Who did I want looking down on me and who did I want to look up to every day (p. 22)?"
"While we might hold similar views on judging, Justice Scalia and I held very different views about fishing (p. 23)."
"'Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens... The humblest is the peer of the most powerful (Justice Harlan, p. 24).'"
"Professional disagreements are expected in our line of work, and they are not the same thing as personal ones (p. 26)."
"Many across the world thought this bold experiment in self-government was bound to fail, and the founders themselves recognized it would hardly prove self-perpetuating (p. 26)."
"In our country the ruling class is supposed to be the whole of the American people (p. 27)."
"You're more likely to speak your mind freely if you know that the First Amendment protects freedom of speech (p. 27)."
"If we are to be a self-governing people, we need to know not just our rights but the structures that protect them (p. 27)."
"There's nothing in the Constitution that forbids the people's representatives from adopting stupid laws (p. 28)."
"The challenge when it comes to civics...isn't limited to education but extends to engagement (p. 28)."
"Keeping our republic depends not just on passing knowledge to the next generation; it depends on able young people willing to take on the challenge--and accept the sacrifices--of self-government (p. 29)."
"'Public business must always be done by somebody... If wise men decline it others will not (John Adams, p. 29).'"
"'The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming (TR, p. 29).'"
"Most rights bear a corresponding responsibility (p. 31)."
"I worry that, just as we face a civics crisis in this country today, we face a civility crisis too (p. 31)."
"Without civility, the bonds of friendship in our communities dissolve, tolerance dissipates, and the pressure to impose order and uniformity through public and private coercion mounts (p. 31)."
"'If you do good, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway... The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway (Mother Teresa, p. 32).'"
"The path to taking the oath almost always involves sacrifices and hard choices (p. 35)."
"We are a nation of immigrants... It is no small thing that the founders claimed our new government was formed by 'We the People.' They didn't say the government was formed by the Continental Army or the Congress or the States or some bureaucratic drafting committee... The founders made clear that one of the great obligations of American citizens is to ensure that power continues to reside in the people (p. 36)."
"Today, you join a people still striving to make real the ideals of the Declaration's promise that all people are created equal and entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (p. 27)."
"The framers divided the powers of the federal government into three branches. It was a radical innovation at the time, and it may be one of their most important contributions to human liberty (p. 40)."
"The framers knew separating the authority to write the law from the authority to execute it is essential to keep the executive branch from engaging in the sort of tyranny they experienced before the Revolution and that we see today in authoritarian regimes around the world (p. 42)."
"Judges should...strive...to apply the law as it is, focusing backward, not forward, and looking to text, structure, and history--not to their own moral convictions or the policy consequences they believe might serve society best (p. 48)."
"Consider the constitution. Judges must do more than merely consider it. They take an oath to uphold it (p. 50)."
"The law bears its own distinctive structure, language, coherence, and integrity (p. 57)."
"The difficulties of the legislative process were essential to its design, purposefully placed there to ensure that laws would be more likely the product of deliberation than hast; more likely the product of compromise among the many than the will of the few; and more likely to respect minority interests than trample on their rights (p. 63)."
"Congress makes the laws and you are free to vote your representative in our out at regular intervals (p. 64)."
"The judiciary isn't just made up of life-appointed judges who have considerably more freedom to depart from majoritarian norms and political pressures... It's also composed of juries (p. 68)."
"By transferring more and more power from the legislature and judiciary to the executive, we alter piece by piece the framers' work and risk the underlying values it was designed to serve (p. 73)."
"The founders considered the separation of powers a vital guard against governmental encroachment on the people's liberties (p. 76)."
"The framers' concerns about the delegation of legislative power had a great deal to do with the criminal law (p. 90)."
"Vague laws invite arbitrary power (p. 96)."
"The adoption of new laws restricting liberty is supposed to be a hard business, the product of an open and public debate among a large and diverse number of elected representatives (p. 100)."
"We were told that the Constitution is a 'living' document (p. 105)."
"On the other side of the debate lies originalism. Originalists believe that the Constitution should be read in our time the same way it was read when it was adopted (p. 110)."
"Others argue that originalism fails to afford sufficient respect to precedent (p. 113)."
"Any serious discussion of the constitutional interpretation must begin with the Constitution (p. 116)."
"'This Constitution is the supreme Law of the Land (p. 116).'"
"Originalism seeks to enforce the Constitution and its amendments consistent with the understandings of the people who were alone legally authorized to adopt them (p. 120)."
"Insulating judges from democratic accountability also reveals the founders' assumption that judges would resolve ambiguity using neutral and well-known rules of interpretation, not their own 'living' and 'evolving' values (p. 123)."
"There's no doubt that inventing a new law instead of applying the written one can be tempting (p. 144)."
"Just because you have to entrust a third party with your data doesn't necessarily mean you should lose all Fourth Amendment protections in it (p. 163)."
"When the current statute's language is clear, it must be enforced just as Congress wrote it (p. 170)."
"A good judge listens carefully to colleagues, appreciating the different perspectives each brings to bear... While judging is meant to be a relatively humble business, that does not mean it's an easy one (p. 178)."
"People can easily forget that the law is meant to protect the beloved and the detested alike, and a judge who enforces the law equally for disfavored and favored persons alike will not usually win a popularity contest (p. 179)."
"Courage has been essential to the rule of law in this country from the beginning (p. 181)."
"Make a daily habit of courage in small matters, and that habit will enable you to persevere when the big ones arrive (p. 185)."
"Take the risk (p. 185)."
"The easy path is to shun those with whom you disagree. Show the courage of kindness (p. 185)."
"We are a nation under laws as adopted by the people, not a nation ruled by unelected elders (p. 194)."
"So...what are judges supposed to do when faced with...a cryptic congressional statute whose meaning is genuinely ambiguous (p. 195)?"
"Plainly, a meaningful analytical distinction does exist between intending and foreseeing a consequence (p. 206)."
"When should judges follow--or overrule--a prior decision they earnestly believe to be mistaken (p. 211)?"
"A judicial precedent does its most strenuous work when a later court things it's wrong (p. 214)."
"The past can teach valuable lessons inherently worthy of our respect. Precedent is a way of accumulating and passing down the learning of past generations (p. 217)."
"Cases are decided one at a time, and rules often take shape only slowly and from the accumulation of case-specific decisions pointing in the same direction (p. 217)."
"By seeking to ensure some consistency in outcomes among decisionmakers, the doctrine of precedent may simultaneously promote respect for the judiciary as a neutral source (p. 217)."
"The American judiciary doesn't treat precedent as an ironclad edict (p. 219)."
"The rule of law in this country is something every American can rightly take great pride in (p. 237)."
"The idea that a jury of your peers should decide your fate--not a prosecutor holding all the cards, not an opposing lawyer versed in discovery games--is a core principle of our democracy (p. 243)."
"Twelve people working together in good faith can see and hear more of what's happening in a courtroom than any single person might (p. 243)."
"Our civil justice system is too expensive for most to afford (p. 244)."
"Without written laws, we lack fair notice of the rules we must obey (p. 247)."
"I wonder whether cynicism about the law flourishes so freely only because--for all its blemishes--the rule of law in our society is so successful that sometimes it's hard to see (p. 249)."
"The vast majority of disputes coming to our courts are ones in which all judges do agree on the outcome (p. 251)."
"This court has a duty to do more than observe, record, and warn. It has a duty to act (p. 272)."
"Would your grandmother approve of your behavior (p. 303)?"
"Writing is hard. It forces you to focus exactingly on the logic of your argument and it is a solitary job. But it is a rewarding one too (p. 305)."
"Don't take yourself too seriously (p. 307)."
"Did you come to law school to make money or make a difference? I suspect it was to make a real difference in your community and the world around you. Don't forget that (p. 308)."
"We hold different political and religious views, but we are united in love (p. 317)."
"Success in life has little to do with success. Kindness...is the great virtue (p. 317)."
"Putting on a robe doesn't make me any smarter (p. 320)."
