It's important to every American that the law protect his or her basic liberty.

You will read in the newspaper more often about federal courts, but the law that affects people, the trials that affect human beings are by and large….

Every citizen has to figure out what kind of government he or she wants..

There are loads of countries that have nice written constitutions like ours. But there aren't loads of countries where they're followed..

This understanding, underlying constitutional interpretation since the New Deal, reflects the Constitution's demands for structural flexibility suffi….

The best clue to what a person thinks is what he says..

People have to be educated and they have to stick to it. If people lose that respect, an awful lot is lost.

We are selected, but I grew up in California and in San Francisco and there was a system of electing judges..

Active liberty is particularly at risk when law restricts speech directly related to the shaping of public opinion, for example, speech that takes pl….

Judges are appointed often through the political process.

You can have many different selection systems, but the bottom line has to be a system that, once the judge takes office that judge will feel that he ….

To threaten the institution is to threaten fair administration of justice and protection of liberty..

But once the person is selected, at that point that person is independent..

Independence means you decide according to the law and the facts..

The advantages? Exercise, no parking problems, gas prices, it's fun. An automobile is expensive. You have to find a place to park and it's not fun. S….

I mean, there are lots of people who get married who can't have children. To take a state that does allow adoption and say-there, what is the justifi….

Independence doesn't mean you decide the way you want..

I think whether you are a judge on my court or whether you are a judge on a court of appeals or any court, and lawyers too - and if you're interested….

We can speak about the institution, but ultimately the bar is the group that both is in touch with the public on the one hand and understands the jud….

Nobody wants a judge to be subject to the political whim of the moment..

It doesn't help to fight crime to put people in prison who are innocent..