Susan Collins Quotes

My job is to interpret the law based on how the legislature and the court has done it and then, of course, to use our system of justice to develop some new legal tools and new concepts.

I think justices of all stripes agree that stare decisis is important, but not an inextricable command. It's not inflexible; it's not absolute.

I take judge-made law as one of the existing realities of life.

How long soever it hath continued, if it be against reason, it is of no force in law.

General propositions do not decide concrete cases.

You’ve got to expect that there will be twists and turns [in court opinions], especially with major doctrine.

Law is not a science, but is essentially empirical.

It seems to me that stare decisis ought to be applied even to the doctrine of stare decisis, and I confess never to have heard of this new, keep-what-you-want-and-throw-away-the-rest version.

Bad facts make bad law.

I always look for judges who respect precedent.

On the whole, we think of our consumers - other judges, lawyers, the public. The law that the Supreme Court establishes is the law that they must live by, so all things considered, it's better to have it clearer than confusing.

One precedent creates another and they soon accumulate and constitute law. What yesterday was a fact, today is doctrine.

What I really like about law is that it's not an endless discourse like history or philosophy. In law, there comes a point where problems have to be solved, and cases decided.

Law is a formless mass of isolated decisions.

It is the merit of the common law that it decides the case first and determines the principles afterward.

One precedent creates another. They soon accumulate and constitute law. What yesterday was fact, today is doctrine.

Great cases like hard cases make bad law.

When the Supreme Court renders an important decision, the reasons it gives are often more important than the choice it has made.

Stare decisis is the policy of the court to stand by precedent;  the term is but an abbreviation of “stare decisis et non quieta movere”--to stand by and adhere to decisions and not disturb what is settled.

People expect that the law will be what the Supreme Court told them what the law was going to be.

What is today supported by precedents will hereafter become a precedent.

During my years as a practicing lawyer, it just was part of your study of what Congress was trying to say in their statutes. I never really considered judges or scholars as either those who used legislative history or those who were opposed to it until after I got on the court.

Remember when John Roberts was seeking confirmation of the Supreme Court, and he said judges should be just like umpires, just calling balls and strikes? Well, turnabout is fair play. What baseball needs behind the plate are umpires like those judges who are called strict constructionists, which means you follow subtle law to the letter.

The practice of law requires both continuity and growth - a deep understanding of legal principles born of reason, tradition, and experience and tested by time, but also a mind alert to present needs and the future consequences of public and private legal decisions.

A judge must interpret statutes as written. And a judge must interpret the Constitution as written, informed by history and tradition and precedent.