Sandra Day O'Connor Quotes
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I like to think that the court will continue to be held in high regard by the public. I think it should be.
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Historically courts in this country have been insulated. We do not look beyond our borders for precedents.
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It's hard to have little children and a job and career at the same time. There is no time left for you as a woman.
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When I went to law school, which after all was back in the dark ages, we never looked beyond our borders for precedents. As a state court judge, it never would have occurred to me to do so, and when I got to the Supreme Court, it was very much the same. We just didn't do it.
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What the framers of the Constitution tried to achieve when they wrote that Constitution back in the 1700s was an independent federal judiciary. They wanted federal judges to be appointed by the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and to serve for good behavior.
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Cyberspace undeniably reflects some form of geography.
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If statistics are any indication, the system may well be allowing some innocent defendants to be executed.
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We have a complex system of government. You have to teach it to every generation.
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Yes, I will bring the understanding of a woman to the Court, but I doubt that alone will affect my decisions.
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Justice Ginsburg is a very competent justice, and it is a joy to have her on the court, but particularly for me it is a pleasure to have a second woman on the court.
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I think I learned to appreciate and treasure each day, because you don't know how many you're going to be given.
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You have to answer the question, like it or not. And the questions deserve a valid legal response, even if the response isn't one that will be easily understood. You have an obligation as a member of the court to do what you are bound to do under federal law, even if it isn't an attractive resolution from a public standpoint.
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The family unit plays a critical role in our society and in the training of the generation to come.
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Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random. The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms. As for the victims, the government now has license to transfer property from those with fewer resources to those with more. The Founders cannot have intended this perverse result.
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I had become increasingly concerned in recent years about the lack of civics education in our nation's schools. In recent years, the schools have stopped teaching it. And it's unfortunate.
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I'm a judge. It seemed to me that it was critical to try to take action to stem the criticism and help people understand that in the constitutional framework, it's terribly important not to have a system of retaliation against decisions people don't like.
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(W)e do not count heads before enforcing the First Amendment.
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I think we may be seeing the beginnings of a resurgence of civic-mindedness in this country. Hopefully the younger generations, which came out in record numbers during the last presidential election, will pass their enthusiasm on to their children.
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Suppose you had a cross burning in a play or a movie... Would that be intimidating?
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I don't know how a judge can concentrate on being fair and impartial when he or she is faced with possible jail time for making a decision that others deem incorrect.
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It is a measure of the framers' fear that a passing majority might find it expedient to compromise 4th Amendment values that these values were embodied in the Constitution itself.
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My hope is that 10 years from now, after I've been across the street at work for a while, they'll all be glad they gave me that wonderful vote.
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My sense is that jurists from other nations around the world understand that our court occupies a very special place in the American system, and that the court is rather well regarded in comparison, perhaps, to their own.
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The whole idea of a public education was to train young people about how our system of government works, so they could be good citizens and be part of it. We're not doing that today.