John Roberts Quotations

Justice Rehnquist was friendly and unpretentious. He wore scuffed Hush Puppy shoes. That was my first lesson. Clothes do not make the man. The Justice sported long sideburns and Buddy Holly glasses long after they were fashionable. And he wore loud ties that I am confident were never fashionable.

Judges are like umpires. Umpires don't make the rules. They apply them. The role of an umpire and a judge is critical. They make sure everybody plays by the rules. But it is a limited role. Nobody ever went to a ballgame to see the umpire.

Judges have to have the humility to recognize that they operate within a system of precedent, shaped by other judges equally striving to live up to the judicial oath.

I will be vigilant to protect the independence and integrity of the Supreme Court, and I will work to ensure that it upholds the rule of law and safeguards those liberties that make this land one of endless possibilities for all Americans.

A chief justice's authority is really quite limited, and the dynamic among all the justices is going to affect whether he can accomplish much or not. There is this convention of referring to the Taney Court, the Marshall Court, the Fuller Court, but a chief justice has the same vote that everyone else has.

The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.

President Ronald Reagan used to speak of the Soviet constitution, and he noted that it purported to grant wonderful rights of all sorts to people. But those rights were empty promises, because that system did not have an independent judiciary to uphold the rule of law and enforce those rights.

While some of the tales of woe emanating from the court are enough to bring tears to the eyes, it is true that only Supreme Court justices and schoolchildren are expected to and do take the entire summer off.

I think judicial temperament is a willingness to step back from your own committed views of the correct jurisprudential approach and evaluate those views in terms of your role as a judge. It's the difference between being a judge and being a law professor.

It's sobering to think of the seventeen chief justices; certainly a solid majority of them have to be characterized as failures. The successful ones are hard to number.

By ensuring that no one in government has too much power, the Constitution helps protect ordinary Americans every day against abuse of power by those in authority.

There is no better gift a society can give children than the opportunity to grow up safe and free - the chance to pursue whatever dreams they may have.

When we go to a restaurant, they don't ask, 'Do you want the asbestos section or the non-asbestos section?' They do ask, 'Do you want smoking or nonsmoking?'

You can't fight for your rights if you don't know what they are.

Anytime you get nine people together, whether it's at a party or it's in the conference room of the Supreme Court, you do have to maintain some order, or it does kind of degenerate into squabbling pretty quickly.

People, for reasons of their own, often fail to do things that would be good for them or good for society.

If children do not understand the Constitution, they cannot understand how our government functions, or what their rights and responsibilities are as citizens of the United States.

When I worked in the Department of Justice, in the office of the solicitor general, it was my job to argue cases for the United States before the Supreme court. I always found it very moving to stand before the justices and say, 'I speak for my country.'

Legislative novelty is not necessarily fatal; there is a first time for everything.

I go to the opera. It's mostly my wife that's a bigger fan, I'd say, than I am. I like the big opera. I want a lot of people on stage, elephants and marching stuff, and the modern stuff I don't care for.

The Affordable Care Act's requirement that certain individuals pay a financial penalty for not obtaining health insurance may reasonably be characterized as a tax.

There's a lot of the Midwest and the West in Justice Rehnquist's approach to constitutional law. And by that I mean a recognition that people know pretty well how to govern themselves, that government that is closest to the people is apt to be more responsive to their legitimate concerns and needs.

I don't type on the computer or edit. Law students who went to law school really just a couple years after I did were brought up all on the computers and that's how they do it, but I was still part of the older school.

A justice is not like a law professor, who might say, 'This is my theory... and this is what I'm going to be faithful to and consistent with,' and in twenty years will look back and say, 'I had a consistent theory of the First Amendment as applied to a particular area.'

It is a great thing about having young children, is that they don't really care whether you're the chief justice or whatever, and they do make sure that you have a good perspective on life and what's important.

On the other hand, simple disagreement about whether it's an appropriate issue for the public to see would not strike me as a very compelling governmental interest,

I would resist the suggestion that I'm racially insensitive, ... I know why the phrase, 'Equal Justice Under Law' is carved in marble above the Supreme Court entrance.

My faith and my religious beliefs do not play a role.

One reason people admire justice Jackson so much is that although he had strong views as attorney general, he recognized when he became a member of the Supreme Court that his job had changed, and he was not the president's lawyer,

One of our greatest success stories of the last couple of years is our commitment to provide up-scale affordable senior housing. You will see the fourth complex begin construction in 2006.

Of course gender discrimination is a serious problem. It's a particular concern of mine and always has been. I grew up with three sisters, all of whom work outside the home. I married a lawyer who works outside the home. I have a young daughter who I hope will have all of the opportunities available to her without regard to any gender discrimination. There's no suggestion in anything that I've written of any resistance to the basic idea of full citizenship without regard to gender.

No, I don't think there is. Sometimes it's hard to give meaning to a constitutional term in a particular case. But you don't look to your own values and beliefs. You look outside yourself to other sources. This is the basis for ? you know, judges wear black robes because it doesn't matter who they are as individuals. That's not going to shape their decision. It's their understanding of the law that will shape their decision.

No, I don't think there is, ... You look outside yourself, to other sources. This is the basis for judges (to) wear black robes, because it doesn't matter who they are as individuals . . . it's their understanding of the law that will shape the decision.

If they want to sell and get out, if they have enough land, it's OK, they can downsize and do that.

If we're relying on a decision from a German judge about what our Constitution means, no president accountable to the people appointed that judge and no Senate accountable to the people confirmed that judge. And yet he's playing a role in shaping the law that binds the people in this country. I think that's a concern that has to be addressed.

If we're relying on a German judge about what our Constitution means, no president accountable to the people appointed that judge and no Senate accountable to the people confirmed that judge. And yet, he's playing a role in shaping the law that binds the people in this country.

Many of the proposals for dealing with the zero bound rely on influencing expectations, both of future interest rates and of future inflation.

There are many areas where it appears I knew a lot more when I was 25 than I know now, when I'm 50, ... I certainly wouldn't write everything today as I wrote it back then, but I don't think any of us would do things or write things today as we did when we were 25 and had all the answers.

Mr. Jones suggests in his letter that you would have reacted differently to an alleged civil rights violation, and in a thinly veiled threat, asserts that the alleged insensitivity of the administration to fundamentalist Christians will not go unnoticed by that sizable voting block,

She gave us respect and we trusted her. If you start positive then you can go on and be negative. That is how you get respect. We did not really see her as a coach or African-American. We just saw her as a coach that we trusted.

Senator, I believe that no one is above the law in our system, and that includes our president,

Senator, I believe that no one is above the law under our system, and that includes the president. The president is fully bound by the law, the constitution and statutes.

Senator, that's a question that I don't think can be answered in the abstract. You need to know the particular circumstances and exactly what the facts are and what the legislation would be like, because the argument on the other side -- and as a judge, I would obviously be in a position of considering both arguments: the argument for the legislature and the argument for the executive. The argument on the executive side will rely on authority as commander in chief and whatever authorities derive from that.

She said, It's not correct for me to comment. Now, there's a reason for that.

... She took the position that she should not comment. Justice O'Connor took the same position. She was asked about a particular case.

She will say what people want to hear in order to win. That's her history. She is just a craven, cynical, hypocritical politician.

I have an understanding of people of the first ward. I want to be a voice for those people.

has adopted this siege mentality in which the best way to deflect the question is to attack the questioner. I'm not quite sure who he's playing to -- maybe the segment of the Republican Party that believes we're a bunch of liberals who have our own agenda.

There are situations that arise when an executive may determine that that type of action is necessary. That may be challenged,

I come before the committee with no agenda. I have no platform. Judges are not politicians who can promise to do certain things in exchange for votes,

I'd accuse (judges or justices who rely on foreign law) of getting it wrong on that point and I'd hope to sit down with them and debate it and reason about it,

I am tremendously energized and excited by the opportunity to join an organization that time and time again has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to rock-solid journalism, a dedication that has rightly earned CNN recognition as the global leader in news coverage.

I don't think you can read those opinions and say that these are the opinions of an ideologue,

But there are thousands, tens of thousands of other people in this area who just have no place to go,

I have been fortunate for the past two years to serve on a court in which all of the judges ... put aside those (political) ties and those views and become judges all focused on the same mission of vindicating the rule of law. And if you look at the decisions of the D.C. Circuit, you'll see that we're almost always unanimous. We almost always come out the same way and to the extent there are disagreements, they don't shape up along political lines,

I look to the law books, ... I don't look to the Bible.

We must evaluate not only his qualifications, but also his ability to keep an open mind, his sensitivity to the concerns of all Americans and their right to equal protection under the laws; not only his intellectual capacity, but his judgment and wisdom; not only his achievements, but his fairness and his courage to stand up to the other branches of government when they infringe on the rights and liberties of our citizens.

He was a fine guy, one who brought practical experience to the classroom.

I am honored and humbled by the confidence that the president had shown in me,

I am honored and humbled by the confidence that the president has shown in me,

I am honored and humbled by the confidence the president has shown in me, ... I am very much aware that if I am confirmed I would succeed a man I deeply respect and admire, a man who has been very kind to me for 25 years.

I am honoured and humbled by the confidence the president has shown in me.

If the Constitution says that the little guy should win, the little guy's going to win in court before me, ... But if the Constitution says that the big guy should win, well, then the big guy's going to win.

If the Constitution says that the little guy should win, then the little guy's going to win in the court before me, ... But if the Constitution says that the big guy should win, well then the big guy's going to win because my obligation is to the Constitution.

He did what a judge should do, not give any indication on any specific case or how he might look at that because if he does, he's not going to be the impartial arbiter a judge should be,

I feel the need to stay away from a discussion of particular cases.

What makes you think liberals are against that philosophy?

My practice has not been ideological in any sense. And what I've been able to do is set aside any personal views and discharge the professional obligation of an advocate.

My own view, every child should be educated.

Part of the reason we're holding on is that so many guys are overexposed to the corporate bond market, any cash they have they're putting to work in governments.

Our only hope is that Congress will continue to do what is does best ù nothing,

Our only hope is that Congress will continue to do what is does best - nothing,

Our only hope is that Congress will continue to do what it does best -- nothing.

I will be my own man on the Supreme Court, period,

I think that civil liberties types will make an argument that the lure of chat lines may be too much. And maybe that will not be a fair use of the limited rights granted police authorities to use entrapments.

I think everyone would agree that the religion jurisprudence under the First Amendment, the establishment clause and the free exercise clause, could be clearer.

My new best friend, Senator Thompson, assures me that television cameras are nothing to be afraid of,

Judge Roberts, the legal automaton, as opposed to Judge Roberts, the man.

Judges and justices are servants of the law, not the other way around. Judges are like umpires. Umpires don't make the rules; they apply them,

Judges are like umpires. Umpires don't make the rules. They apply them.

Judges are umpires. I will remember it is my job to call balls and strikes, and not pitch or bat.

Judges do not have a commission to solve society's problems, ... their role, while important, is limited.

Judges wear black robes because it doesn't matter who they are as individuals. That's not going to shape their decision. It's their understanding of the law that will shape their decision.

It definitely needs to be sorted out, because we lose trading days when our car park is flooded.

Late this August, MALDEF announced its opposition to Judge Roberts.

Like most people, I resist the labels. I have told people, when pressed, that I prefer to be known as a modest judge. And, to me, that means some of the things that you talked about in those other labels. It means an appreciation that the role of the judge is limited; the judge is to decide the cases before them; they're not to legislate; they're not to execute the laws.

Roe v. Wade is the settled law of the land, ... It's a little more than settled.

Over 35 percent of our customers run Microsoft Windows Server.

I think I have been more forthcoming than any of the other nominees,

I think I'd have to say that I don't have an overarching, uniform philosophy.

I will try to ensure, in the discharge of my responsibilities, that, with the help of my colleagues, I can pass on to my children's generation a charter of self-government as strong and as vibrant as the one that Chief Justice Rehnquist passed on to us.

I tend to take a more practical and pragmatic approach to things, rather than a theoretical or ideological approach, ... But I do think when it gets into an area where the correctness or incorrectness or my agreement or disagreement with a particular precedent is in an area that is likely to come before the court or could well come before the court, I do have to draw the line there. ... My views on the cases that I think are not likely to come before the court, I'm perfectly willing to discuss.

I think if you've looked at what I've done since I took the judicial oath, that should convince you that I'm not an ideologue.

I think of that as a swap, ... His ascension to the court ... would not change things.

It is not enough that you may think a prior decision is wrongly decided,

It is not a process under which senators get to say, 'I want you to rule this way and this way and this way, and if you'll tell me that you'll rule this way and this way and this way, I'll vote for you, ... That's not a bargaining process. Judges are not politicians. They cannot promise to do certain things in exchange for votes.

I think the markets would be a little upset if they thought it would be World War III that would drag Congress to a halt but this does not appear to be that kind of scenario,

It had become pretty clear throughout the month of December (2005) and especially at the (January 2006) press tour that CBS was looking in a different direction.

I think it is a jolt to the legal system when you overturn precedent. ... It is not enough that you may think that a prior decision was wrongly decided,

It is preservative, I think, of all the other rights. Without access to the ballot box, people are not in the position to protect any other rights that are important to them. And so I think it's one of, as you said, the most precious rights we have as Americans.