Elena Kagan Quotes

If confirmed by the Senate to serve on the Supreme Court, I will keep an open mind in every case and always strive to preserve the Constitution of the United States and the American rule of law.

Judge Roberts has assured me personally that he has a healthy respect for precedent and the hard-won rights of Americans.

The Supreme Court is never very far from public opinion.

What five members of the Supreme Court say the law is may be something vastly different from what Congress intended the law to be.

The key to the [Supreme] court's critical constitutional role lies in the mystery of its future actions.

The Supreme Court follows the election returns.

The Supreme Court has been of all features of our Government ... the most successful

The Supreme Court is very capable of acting quickly when it needs to.

If the court is a political institution making important political decisions, then the public should debate the politics of Supreme Court decisions.

The American people should be the one to decide which direction the Supreme Court will go.

What many people, I think, don't really understand is how much their rights really turn on the interpretation of the Supreme Court.

Stability in law - particularly constitutional law - is critically important; the Supreme Court would do well to remember that.

The president typically never does comment on anything involving the Supreme Court cases, Supreme Court ruling, or Supreme Court finding, typically.

I'm looking for a Justice who appreciates the awesome responsibility that she will be given, if confirmed. A Justice who understands the gravity of the office and who respects the very different roles that the Constitution provides for each of the three branches of government.

I am still doing my due diligence. A vote on a Supreme Court nominee is a lifetime appointment and when the court decides, it is the law of the land.

Separation of power says the judiciary committee is supposed to confirm qualified judges and then what the Supreme Court does, that is their function, not my function.

Just because a couple people on the Supreme Court declare something to be 'constitutional' does not make it so.

Judicial review has been a part of our democracy in this constitutional government for over 200 years.

Presidents come and go, but the Supreme Court goes on forever.

We know that this man has a proven record of being a 'strict constructionist.' Our President has given us his word that he will interpret the Constitution rather than make new laws from the bench.

While I have the greatest respect for the Supreme Court's members, I cannot claim familiarity with any particular judicial philosophies the justices might possess.

The Supreme Court needs jurists, not politicians.

My feeling is that the judge has a responsibility to the Constitution first, precedent second. Precedent is one factor. It is not the only factor. If it was the only factor, then, you know, we wouldn't have had Roe vs. Wade. We wouldn't have had Griswold. We wouldn't have had Lawrence. We wouldn't have had all these cases which the Left love.

You want to know what judicial activism is? Judicial activism is judges imposing their policy preferences on the words of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court is our ultimate check and balance.