Judicial Expertise Quotes

I have been a judge for 15 years and I've made up my own mind during all that time.

Having had the good fortune to serve beside her on both courts, I can attest that her opinions are always thoroughly considered, always carefully crafted and almost always correct (which is to say we sometimes disagree). That much is apparent for all to see. What only her colleagues know is that her suggestions improve the opinions the rest of us write, and that she is a source of collegiality and good judgment in all our work.

Candidly, Justice Thomas, I do not believe that you were indeed the most competent person to be on the Supreme Court.

To be a judge you don't have to know about books, you have to be skilled at picking shrapnel out of your head.

One is entitled to say without qualification that the correlation between prior judicial experience and fitness for the Supreme Court is zero.

I do think there is a value in the services of judges for long periods of time.

I find it hard to believe that Senators or the American public will classify Sotomayor as unqualified, particularly given the thin credentials of many of our eighteenth and nineteenth century Supreme Court Justices.

It has been thought that the people are not competent electors of judges learned in the law. But I do not know this to be true, and, if doubtful, we should follow principle.

The Tax Court is independent, and its neutrality is not clouded by prosecuting duties. Its procedures assure fair hearings. Its deliberations are evidenced by careful opinions. All guides to judgment available to judges are habitually consulted and respected. It has established a tradition of freedom from bias and pressures. It deals with a subject that is highly specialized and so complex as to be the despair of judges. It is relatively better staffed for its task than is the judiciary.