I am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences.
Sonia SotomayorRead
All of the legal defense funds out there, they're looking for people out there with court of appeals experience, because court of appeals is where policy is made. And I know, I know this is on tape and I should never say that because we don't make law, I know. I know.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the importance of court of appeals experience in shaping legal policy.
In this quote, Sonia Sotomayor emphasizes the role of court of appeals judges in influencing and creating legal policy, suggesting that their decisions carry significant weight in the legal landscape. Although she acknowledges the distinction between making law and interpreting it, she points out that the court of appeals is a critical arena where important legal precedents are established.
Themes
LegalPolicyCourtAppealsLaw
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used during a legal seminar to illustrate the impact of court rulings on policy.
More from Sonia Sotomayor
All quotes →This wealth of experiences, personal and professional, have helped me appreciate the variety of perspectives that present themselves in every case that I hear.
Sonia SotomayorRead
I was fifteen years old when I understood how it is that things break down: people can't imagine someone else's point of view.
Sonia SotomayorRead
The truth is that since childhood I had cultivated an existential independence. It came from perceiving the adults around me as unreliable, and without it I felt I wouldn't have survived. I cared deeply for everyone in my family, but in the end I depended on myself.
Sonia SotomayorRead
As you discover what strength you can draw from your community in this world from which it stands apart, look outward as well as inward. Build bridges instead of walls.
Sonia SotomayorRead
There are uses to adversity, and they don't reveal themselves until tested. Whether it's serious illness, financial hardship, or the simple constraint of parents who speak limited English, difficulty can tap unexpected strengths.
Sonia SotomayorRead
Similar quotes
The constitution is either a superior paramount law, unchangeable by ordinary means, or it is on a level with ordinary legislative acts, alterable when the legislature shall please to alter it. It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is. This is the very essence of judicial duty.
John MarshallRead
Litigation is the pursuit of practical ends, not a game of chess.
Felix FrankfurterRead
The language of the law must not be foreign to the ears of those who are to obey it.
Learned HandRead
I will not say with Lord Hale, that "The Law will admit of no rival" . . . but I will say that it is a jealous mistress, and requires a long and constant courtship. It is not to be won by trifling favors, but by lavish homage.
Joseph StoryRead
I start out with the assumption that a lawyer in a criminal case is going to be incompetent - substantially so. I find my assumption to be rarely wrong. Yet society starts out with the very opposite assumption.
Vincent BugliosiRead
The critical point is that the Constitution places the right of silence beyond the reach of government.
William O. DouglasRead