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
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.
In practice
This quote could be used during a legal seminar to illustrate the impact of court rulings on policy.
I am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences.
This wealth of experiences, personal and professional, have helped me appreciate the variety of perspectives that present themselves in every case that I hear.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Sixth Amendment secures to persons charged with crime the right to be tried by an impartial jury reflecting a fair cross-section of the community.
Ignorance of the law excuses no man; not that all men know the law, but because 'tis an excuse every man will plead, and no man can tell how to refute him.
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.
Litigation is the pursuit of practical ends, not a game of chess.
The federal statute is invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and injure those whom the state, by its marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity.
The agreement of the parties cannot make that good which the law maketh void.
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