Patrick Leahy
Patrick Leahy
Patrick Joseph Leahyis an American politician and the senior United States Senator from Vermont. He has been in office since 1975. A member of the Democratic Party, Leahy served as the President pro tempore of the United States Senate from December 17, 2012, to January 6, 2015. As President pro tempore, he was third in the presidential line of succession. He is the most senior senator and took office at a younger age than any other current senator. Leahy received...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth31 March 1940
CountryUnited States of America
She [Justice sandra Day O'Connor] rejected the [George] Bush administration's claim that it could indefinitely detain a United States citizen. She upheld the fundamental principle of judicial review over the exercise of government power.
She [Justice sandra Day O'Connor] wrote - and this is one we should all remember - she wrote that even war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation's citizens. She held that even this president is not above the law.
Of course no president, Democratic or Republican - no president - is above the law, as neither are you, nor I, nor anyone.
Her [Jurdge Sandra Day O'Connor] judgment has also been critical in protecting our environmental rights. She joined in 5-4 majorities affirming reproductive freedom and religious freedom and the Voting Rights Act.
As the elected representatives of the American people, all the people, nearly 300 million people, that we in the Senate are charged with the responsibility to examine whether to entrust their precious rights and liberties to [Supreme Court] nominee.
The appointment of the next Supreme Court justice must be made in the people's interest and in the nation's interest, not in the interest of any partisan faction.
This is a time when the protections of Americans' liberties are directly at risk, as are the checks and balances that have served to constrain abuses of power for more than 200 years. The Supreme Court is relied upon by all of to us protect our fundamental rights.
The American people deserve a Supreme Court justice who can demonstrate that he or she will not be beholden to the president, but only to the law.
The federal judiciary is unlike the other branches of government. And once confirmed, a federal judge serves for life. And there's no court above the Supreme Court.
Justice [Sandra Day] O'Connor has been a guardian of the protections the Constitution provides the American people. She's come to provide balance and a check on government intrusion into our personal privacy and freedoms.
Stealing is stealing. I don't care if it's on the Internet or you're breaking into a warehouse somewhere - it's theft.
I intend to have protections for the L.G.B.T. community in there. I'm not going to make choices between that community and the non-L.G.B.T. community.
In my view it is time to pass a good bill, a fair bill, a comprehensive bill ... Too many have been waiting too long for fairness.
The American public is sick and tired of being lied to.