Sandra Day O'Connor Quotes
-
It is difficult to discern a serious threat to religious liberty from a room of silent, thoughtful schoolchildren.
-
You have citizens who don't understand how government works and they're kind of soured on it. All they do is criticize. They have no idea that they can make things happen.
-
We have a complex system of government. You have to teach it to every generation.
-
Parents should continue to become more involved with their communities, and more involved in their children's education.
-
Cyberspace undeniably reflects some form of geography.
-
If statistics are any indication, the system may well be allowing some innocent defendants to be executed.
-
Historically courts in this country have been insulated. We do not look beyond our borders for precedents.
-
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.
-
Yes, I will bring the understanding of a woman to the Court, but I doubt that alone will affect my decisions.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Suppose you had a cross burning in a play or a movie... Would that be intimidating?
-
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.
-
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.
-
I think I learned to appreciate and treasure each day, because you don't know how many you're going to be given.
-
(W)e do not count heads before enforcing the First Amendment.
-
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.
-
I suspect that over time we will rely increasingly, or take notice at least increasingly, on international and foreign courts in examining domestic issues. Doing so may not only enrich our own country's decisions, I think it may create that all important good impression.
-
The family unit plays a critical role in our society and in the training of the generation to come.
-
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.
-
The purpose prong of the Lemon test requires that a government activity have a secular purpose. That requirement is not satisfied, however, by the mere existence of some secular purpose, however dominated by religious purposes... The proper inquiry under the purpose prong of Lemon, I submit, is whether the government intends to convey a message of endorsement or disapproval of religion.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.