John Kerry Quotes

Finally, a good prosecutor knows that her job is to enforce the law without fear or favor. Likewise, a Supreme Court Justice must interpret the laws without fear or favor.

[Discussing the confirmation process:] A judge sworn to decide impartially can offer no forecasts, no hints, for that would show not only disregard for the specifics of the particular case, it would display disdain for the entire judicial process.

A judge is supposed to be able to make a decision, and when you make a decision, very often one party - and very often both - are a little disappointed.

The law is agnostic about truth.

I respect people who feel things passionately. I do. But when someone is a judge, that is not what they should bring to the bench. It is not really passion, except in rare instances, that serves the bench well. It is, rather, an ability to understand the law and follow it.

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

A judge can't have any preferred outcome in any particular case. The judge's only obligation - and it's a solemn obligation - is to the rule of law.

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

I'm always a little happier if the court stays somewhat in the center.

As judges we are neither Jew nor gentile, neither Catholic nor agnostic …. As a member of this court I am not justified in writing my private notions of policy into the Constitution, no matter how deeply I may cherish them.

It is not permitted to the most equitable of men to be a judge in his own cause.

A judge who likes every opinion he reaches is a bad judge.

We have judges in the American system and they take on a black robe where they are supposed to shield their partisan preferences. They are not red or blue state judges. They are judges.

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

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

Unanimity is important because it signals that the justices can rise above their differences and interpret the law without partisanship.

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

The Supreme Court must never be viewed as a partisan institution.

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

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

Keeping politics out of the courtroom is a goal every state aspires to achieve.

Were I confirmed as a judge, I would decide cases according to the rule of law beginning to end.

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

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

I am not a pro-plaintiff or pro-defendant judge.