Quotations

«When you think commerce clause, don't think technical and meaningless. Think in what ways can the elected representatives of the people provide protection against serious harm.»

«There are some lawyers who think of themselves as basically instruments of whoever their clients are, and they pride themselves on their professional craft.»

«The Court failed to identify a provision of the (Constitution) that the Connecticut law violated. Instead it spoke vaguely of the 'penumbras' and 'emanations' of the Bill of Rights, in language that continues to turn the stomach of fundamentalists (and many others), ... Radicals in Robes.»

«I don't think any new member of the court will expect the court to follow his or her lead. We have nine separate law offices headed by strong-willed people.»

«He is unquestionably one of the most important figures in the history of American law.»

«[Roberts' dissent is a] pretty big deal, ... The fact that he was willing to challenge the Endangered Species Act as a brand-new judge, when lots of his Republican colleagues went the other way, indicates that he really wanted to make a statement.»

«He's one of the most interesting senators of our time. The fact that the right was so concerned about him as head of the Judiciary Committee made many people think he'd be very careful in scrutinizing Bush's appointees. But I guess he has proved unpredictable once again.»

«[At the same time, there is a growing pile of tidbits, in Roberts' opinions and in the Reagan-era documents dribbling out of the White House, that indicates he has strongly held and far-right views on major fronts—abortion, religion, and executive power. There's ammunition for principled opposition to be mined here. But the key attribute Roberts lacks from the point of view of the legal liberals, at least on the record, is an overarching, burn-the-house-down judicial philosophy. As a result, proponents of judicial restraint—an approach to the law that's become as fashionable among liberals as conservatives—are eager to embrace him as one of their own. Leftish advocates of restraint celebrate justices who don't reach out beyond the facts of a case to decide more than they need to and who respect existing Supreme Court precedent. They wrinkle their noses at justices who overtly seek to impose a rightward agenda (Antonin Scalia) and are willing to jettison past decisions to do it (Clarence Thomas). Roberts has never declared himself one of the bad guys, Sunstein pointed out hopefully in a recent piece in the New Republic . Instead he has styled himself as deliberate, lawyerly, process-oriented. His opinions on the D.C. Circuit court of appeals] avoid broad pronouncements, ... They do not try to reorient the law.»

«Rehnquist really was treated unfairly, ... A person is a career, not a moment.»

«We learned at least back then he was quite conservative. He was even a relative conservative in the Reagan Justice Department, which is saying something,»