I've always said that at the end of the day, on a legal issue, I think a wise old woman and a wise old man are going to reach the same conclusion.
Sandra Day O'ConnorRead
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.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the author's experience with a judicial approach that focused primarily on domestic precedents rather than international ones.
Sandra Day O'Connor's quote highlights a critical perspective on the judicial practices of her time, emphasizing how judges historically looked inward to their own legal systems and precedents rather than considering international laws and cases. This reflection points to a broader conversation about the evolution of legal thinking and the importance of expanding perspectives in the pursuit of justice.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about the need for legal systems to evolve with a global perspective.
I've always said that at the end of the day, on a legal issue, I think a wise old woman and a wise old man are going to reach the same conclusion.
In order to cultivate a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry, it is necessary that the path to leadership be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity.
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.
The really expert riders of horses let the horse know immediately who is in control, but then they guide the horse with loose reins and very seldom use the spurs. So it was with our chief [William Rehnquist]. He guided us with loose reins and used the spurs only rarely to get us up to speed with our work.
It is difficult to discern a serious threat to religious liberty from a room of silent, thoughtful schoolchildren.
It was better for me when I was joined at the court by a second woman. When I was there alone, there was too much media focus on the one woman, and the minute we got another woman, that changed.
Let us treat them [children], therefore, with all the kindness which we would wish to help to develop in them.
How do we redefine education so that 30-50 percent of inner-city children do not drop out of school, thus ensuring that millions will end up in prison?
Teach them the quiet words of kindness, to live beyond themselves. Urge them toward excellence, drive them toward gentleness, pull them deep into yourself, pull them upward toward manhood, but softly like an angel arranging clouds. Let your spirit move through them softly.
There is nothing so costly as ignorance.
The task of a university is the creation of the future, so far as rational thought and civilized modes of appreciation can affect the issue.
The old lessons (work, self-discipline, sacrifice, teamwork, fighting to achieve) aren't being taught by many people other than football coaches these days. The football coach has a captive audience and can teach these lessons because the communication lines between himself and his players are more wide open than between kids and parents. We better teach these lessons or else the country's future population will be made up of a majority of crooks, drug addicts, or people on relief.
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