Richard Garnett Quotes (26 Quotes)


    This year, the whole court seems to be willing to go along with clear, concise, yet not very sweeping decisions. Some of these cases had the potential to be controversial, but they are focusing on the issues they agree on.

    I think he's happy now just getting his work done, and the work of the other justices done. He takes that leadership role seriously.

    He's not pacing the floor, ruminating on his future. He's focused on doing the court's business, making sure the other justices do their business.

    It tells us a bit about how the Catholic experience in America has gone from that of being a mistrusted minority in the 19th century to an insular minority during much of the 20th century to an integrated part of the American community, generally, and also the legal community.

    really did dramatically reshape the conversation about federal power.


    When people say there will be seismic changes in affirmative action and religion, I think that's just smoke, ... I don't think there's much room for change. There's room at the margins in close cases.

    Before Chief Justice Rehnquist, it really was like nine scorpions in a bottle.

    I wouldn't imagine him jumping in to cut off Justice (Ruth Bader) Ginsburg or Justice Scalia if they are talking too long.

    Liberal justices like Thurgood Marshall and Ruth Bader Ginsburg think as highly of him as someone like Clarence Thomas. I think that's a testament to the respect he enjoys.

    He was fabulous, ... It was kind of like, when the word got out that Roberts was arguing, people would drop what they were doing and go watch because it was going to watch a real craftsman.

    A lot of the work these judges do, religion doesn't dictate the answer to it. Faith doesn't tell us what this antitrust statute means. It doesn't tell us how judges should go about interpreting antitrust action,

    It's actually kind of a recent idea that in order to judge a nominee, you had to have tons and tons of paper, ... For most of history it was, you know, someone's nominated, probably a friend of the president ... You had hearings, and in the hearings you asked some questions, and the questions gave you the answers, and that was it. No one asked about how you were going to rule in Roe v. Wade, how you were going to rule in Miranda, whatever.

    But that doesn't mean his contribution at the court hasn't been historically significant. Someone can have a huge effect on shaping our constitutional jurisprudence even if on some of the 'big cases' they are on the losing side, ... Chief Justice Rehnquist changed the conversation. He brought back to the table certain ideas about limited government, federalism, and texturalism.

    He'll be much more likely to use crisp, technical, very careful legal analysis,

    nothing distinctively Catholic about their jurisprudence.

    I think, actually, if you want to know where Roberts is on a lot of stuff, Rehnquist is a good place to start,

    The Democrats won't have the votes to sustain a filibuster even if they wanted to, ... I think people will vote against him, even though they know he's going to be confirmed, because the polarization's gotten worse. But that's unfortunate, because whatever one's ideological views, based on his merits he is one of the best qualified nominees in 50 years.

    Through most of our history a lot of Americans would have been freaked out by the idea of more than one, ... For a long time there was the one Catholic seat and one Jewish seat.

    Even if the president wasn't up to it in alligators and his approval rating was 90 percent, John Roberts simply is the best guy for the chief justice's job. I think the thought of having John Roberts join him on the court kept the chief going despite his cancer. I think he's probably smiling about it now.

    The fact that one is Catholic should probably have some impact on whether one thinks abortion is immoral, ... but it doesn't really have much to do with whether a judge thinks Roe v. Wade is a good interpretation of the U. S. Constitution.

    When he was first on the court, he was challenging the dominant way of thinking. But when he became chief, he decided his role was different. The chief has a stewardship obligation, in his view, and is the face of the court and caretaker of the institution. That's bound to change the way you do things.

    He loves the court, ... So he must have felt, 'If I can stay on the job with a reasonable expectation I can maintain my health, then why not.'

    It's been awhile since the Supreme Court had any new members, ... And one thing we've seen is that when the Court gets a new member, no matter what that member's views are, it sometimes tends to change the dynamics. When Justice Thomas came on the Court, Justice Souter started voting differently.

    I don't think he was consciously trying to help the White House by announcing something now, but it does make things easier for the president. It simplifies things because he doesn't feel like he has to make both conservatives and moderates happy with two picks. The one vacancy will allow him to focus on the right person he sees for the job.

    Love is the greatest gift that one generation can leave to another.

    It's not the usual thing, but it doesn't strike me as being troubling. It would be a mistake to read it as payback.


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