Sandra Day O'Connor Quotes
-
Yes, I will bring the understanding of a woman to the Court, but I doubt that alone will affect my decisions.
→ -
[Court] is an institution that depends on making tough decisions in close cases for reasons that it explains well and that, in the past at least, have proven satisfactory to the public.
→ -
In my work a good library is essential. It enables me to learn the background and previous discussions of the various issues I am called upon to decide. It provides the stability and continuity for the rule of law.
→ -
A fundamental premise of American democratic theory is that government exists to serve the people. ... Public records are one portal through which the people observe their government, ensuring its accountability, integrity, and equity while minimizing sovereign mischief and malfeasance
→ -
Each of us brings to our job, whatever it is, our lifetime of experience and our values.
→ -
Unfortunately civility is hard to codify or legislate, but you know it when you see it. It's possible to disagree without being disagreeable.
→ -
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'm not on the court anymore, so no use looking for my philosophy. If somebody's waiting for that, they can wait for another justice.
→ -
If a State refused to let religious groups use facilities open to others, then it would demonstrate not neutrality but hostility toward religion.
→ -
being a member of the court is a lot like walking through fresh concrete. Do you remember doing that as a child and leaving a footprint and it hardens after you? I'm afraid that's what we do and we look back and we see those opinions we've written and they've sort of hardened after us.
→ -
The Constitution does not protect the sovereignty of States for the benefit of the States or state governments as abstract political entities, or even for the benefit of the public officials governing the States. To the contrary, the Constitution divides authority between federal and state governments for the protection of individuals.
→ -
Each justice hires their own clerks, and applications are made individually to the justices. It isn't a group decision.
→ -
If I stumbled badly in doing the job, I think it would have made life more difficult for women, and that was a great concern of mine and still is.
→ -
I think it's inevitable that some of the court's decisions will be found by a segment of the public to be not the right decision or subject to criticism.
→ -
We pay a price when we deprive children of the exposure to the values, principles, and education they need to make them good citizens.
→ -
I need to retire from retirement.
→ -
Be aware that even before you have reached your ultimate professional destination, if you always strive for excellence, you can and should have a substantial impact on the world in which you live.
→ -
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?
→ -
Half the states have stopped making civics and government a requirement for high school. Half.
→ -
Historically, it took a long time before the court took any women law clerks. Finally, it did, but the numbers have never matched very effectively the percentages of law graduates out of graduating classes. We have far more than we ever did before and it's continued to grow, but it isn't a nice match yet.
→ -
The Establishment Clause prohibits government from making adherence to a religion relevant in any way to a person's standing in the political community.
→ -
I don't think it's the court's perceived role to do some explaining of a political nature.
→ -
Historically courts in this country have been insulated. We do not look beyond our borders for precedents.
→ -
Most high courts in other nations do not have discretion, such as we enjoy, in selecting the cases that the high court reviews. Our court is virtually alone in the amount of discretion it has.
→ -
It is true that many Americans find the Commandments in accord with their personal beliefs. But we do not count heads before enforcing the First Amendment.
→ -
The prima facie evidence provision in this case ignores all of the contextual factors that are necessary to decide whether a particular cross burning is intended to intimidate. The First Amendment does not permit such a shortcut.
→ -
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.
→ -
A state of war is not a blank check... when it comes to the rights of the Nation's citizens.
→ -
And I went off to Stanford, I was pretty young and pretty naive. And I had a professor I really loved, who was himself a lawyer.
→
Sandra Day O'Connor
- Born: March 26, 1930
- Occupation: Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States