It is impossible to build sound constitutional doctrine upon a mistaken understanding of constitutional history. . . . The establishment clause has been expressly freighted with Jefferson's misleading metaphor for nearly forty years. . . . There is simply no historical foundation for the proposition that the framers intended to build a wall of separation between church and state. . . . The recent court decisions are in no way based on either the language or the intent of the framers. (William Rehnquist)
The Constitution does not guarantee the right to acquire information at a public library without any risk of embarrassment. (William Rehnquist)
I used to worry about every little footnote, ... Now I realize you just need five votes. (William Rehnquist)
Somewhere out there, beyond the walls of the courthouse, run currents and tides of public opinion which lap at the courtroom door. (William Rehnquist)
The American judicial system is admired throughout the world. (William Rehnquist)
an excellent administrator. No justice ever missed a deadline in the time he served. (William Rehnquist)
Garvey said. ''He's been very important in getting the court to recognize limitations on congressional power. (William Rehnquist)
It is truly surprising that the state must assign a greater value to a mother's decision to cut off a potential human life by abortion than to a father's decision to let it mature into a live child. (William Rehnquist)
A father's interest in having a child -- perhaps his only child -- may be unmatched by any other interest in life. (William Rehnquist)
The Constitution requires that Congress treat similarly situated persons similarly, not that it engage in gestures of superficial equality. (William Rehnquist)
We strike down the floating buffer zones around people entering and leaving the clinics because they burden more speech than is necessary to serve the relevant government interests, (William Rehnquist)
Even today, when society's views on abortion are changing, the very existence of the debate is evidence that the right' to an abortion is not so universally accepted as (Roe) would have us believe. (William Rehnquist)
The framers of our Constitution came up with two major contributions to the art of government. The first was the idea of an executive not dependent on the political support of the legislature. The second was the idea of the judiciary independent of the executive and legislative branches. (William Rehnquist)
Inadequate compensation seriously compromises the judicial independence fostered by life tenure. That low salaries might force judges to return to the private sector rather than stay on the bench risks affecting judicial performance. . . . Every time an experienced judge leaves the bench, the nation suffers temporary loss in judicial productivity. Diminishing judicial salaries affects not only those who have become judges but also the pool of those willing to be considered for a position on the federal bench. (William Rehnquist)
If you could say of any one individual that the court as an institution is the length and shadow of that individual, surely it would be John Marshall. (William Rehnquist)
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