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.
More Quotes from William Rehnquist:
Professor Barton H. Buzz ... He was a great jurist with sharp logic, a photographic memory, and a love of history. He leaves as his legacy not only scores of precedent-setting legal decisions but the modern conservative legal movement. He was the favorite of years of law clerks who always found him willing to take the time to offer personal advice. Those of us fortunate enough to get to know him outside the courtroom will miss him for his humor, friendship, warmth, and tennis game.William Rehnquist
the fairest, most efficient boss I have ever had.
William Rehnquist
The Constitution requires that Congress treat similarly situated persons similarly, not that it engage in gestures of superficial equality.
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
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
Our judges will not continue to represent the diverse face of America if only the well-to-do or the mediocre are willing to become judges.
William Rehnquist
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Based on Topics: Art Quotes, Government Quotes, Idea Quotes, Politics QuotesI ascribe a basic importance to the phenomenon of language. To speak means to be in a position to use a certain syntax, to grasp the morphology of this or that language, but it means above all to assume a culture, to support the weight of a civilization.
Frantz Fanon
Sometimes I get a little manic and you can't stop me. I'm all over the place. I have fun.
Dom DeLuise
That we find a crystal or a poppy beautiful means that we are less alone, that we are more deeply inserted into existence than the course of a single life would lead us to believe.
John Berger