Finley Peter Dunne Quotes

Certain characteristics about 'Marbury v. Madison' are, I think, indisputable. Marbury was the first Supreme Court decision ever to strike down an act of Congress as unconstitutional. Marbury stands for the authority of the Supreme Court to have and to exercise that power.

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.

The Constitution is ... power. That is why we see political struggle over the selection of judges who will wield that power.

The real difficulty is not with the Constitution but with the judges who interpret it.

The Supreme Court follows the election returns.

The Supreme Court is never very far from public opinion.

The Supreme Court overrules, distinguishes, and upholds prior precedents. Sometimes it ignores them. But it does not - cannot - 'defy' them.

There's no such thing as judicial supremacy.

We have a problem with judicial activism in this country.

Many voters think about the makeup of the Supreme Court when they are choosing a president. The justices deal not only with constitutional issues but also with social issues that were unknown to the founding fathers who wrote the Constitution more than 200 years ago.

Judges wear legal professionalism and precedent as a mantel that secures legitimacy for their decisions. It's how they distinguish themselves from politicians or administrative agencies, while wielding power that is sometimes much greater than those democratically accountable actors.

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

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

Over the course of 19 years on the Supreme Court, I learned some lessons about the Constitution of the United States.

The place to find the explanation for the liberal-activist mindset of the courts is in the political arena.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the most liberal and illumined of the nine Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Our chief justices have probably had more profound and lasting influence on their times and on the direction of the nation than most presidents.

The nation will be shaped for decades by decisions that are made by President Bush and the Senate about the future of the Supreme Court.

Just because a majority of the Supreme Court declares something to be 'constitutional' does not make it so.

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

The judicial power of every well-constituted government must be coextensive with the legislative, and must be capable of deciding every judicial question which grows out of the Constitution and laws.

The (Supreme) Court has shown in the past that the Constitution can also be twisted to frustrate the needs of democracy

The Supreme Court has made itself into a political institution … It has become a political prize and a political position.

Day by day, case by case, the Supreme Court is designing a constitution for a country that I do not recognize.

Our Federal judicial rulings have come to reek with the snap judgments of New Dealers.... The Supreme Court of the United States as assumed quasi-legislative authority.