Judy Sheindlin Quotes

I do not decide cases based on personal or policy preferences.

A judge must be independent and must interpret the law, not make the law.

Empathy is a virtue, but it should not be a guiding judicial principle.

'Fairness' can be an important quality for legislators to consider when they are passing public policies. But it is a subjective standard. And it has no place among judges on a court - whose duty is to dispassionately judge a law's constitutionality.

A judge is supposed to have empathy for no one but simply to follow the law.

I would make sure that the values that I would be enforcing if I were a judge are not just my values.

To give a satisfactory decision as to the truth it is necessary to be rather an arbitrator than a party to the dispute.

The courtroom is a quiet place, Judge Roberts, where you park your political ideology, and you call the balls and you call the strikes.

Judges are like umpires. Umpires don't make the rules ; they apply them. The role of an umpire and a judge is critical. They make sure everybody plays by the rules. But it is a limited role. Nobody ever went to a bail game to see the umpire.

A judge is just a lawyer who somebody's blessed.

The judge's authority depends upon the assumption that he speaks with the mouth of others

Judges should follow the law in deciding cases - not their own values, good or bad.

My approach to deciding cases is I look at the law, I look at the facts, and I do my best to apply the law to the facts and make a decision based on the law and the facts.

Good judges do not side with anyone. They rule impartially and blindly based upon the law.

I am not a pro-prosecution or pro-defense judge.

The judge is not the knight-errant, roaming at will in pursuit of his own ideal of beauty or of goodness.

Justice can only be dispensed when you have all the facts in front of you.

I think the time has come for the United States to do even-handed justice.

But, I know enough people in that court, through the years, to know one thing: There's always somebody who surprises you, who rises above what they thought they appointed him for, and stays with the separation of powers, and with the right of the law to decide.

I've always tried to be fair, even-handed, not an advocate for any group.

I tried to decide each case based on the law and the Constitution.

Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both.

I think perfect objectivity is an unrealistic goal; fairness, however, is not.

I'm very partisan, but I'm also very fair.

You don't want to treat any one person as oracular.