Stephen Breyer
Stephen Breyer
Stephen Gerald Breyeris an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994, and known for his pragmatic approach to constitutional law, Breyer is generally associated with the more liberal side of the Court...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSupreme Court Justice
Date of Birth15 August 1938
CitySan Francisco, CA
CountryUnited States of America
might neighbors walk watch
Remember, 100 or 150 years ago, you could walk down the street, your neighbors might see you, they'd watch what you do,
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He says, 'I've seen 50 million paintings, I know magenta,'
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he joked later, while being photographed in his garden, ''my job is to look stiff without being stiff.
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At the same time, we do live in a democracy. And for that reason I think it is appropriate to have some element of public control.
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I have to, of course, describe the views of those who disagree with my approach.
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I mean those people who are interested in good government will certainly contribute in order to make certain there's some counter-balance to those whose interests in good government is less.
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The court has found no single mechanical formula that can accurately draw the constitutional line in every case,
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a hallmark of American justice in the last 30 years.
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And in that confirmation process, I sat for 17 hours in front of a senate judiciary committee.
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And if a judge is going to be criticized for letting off a person and it turns out that person was innocent, that would be a pretty bad criticism.
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But once the person is selected, at that point that person is independent.
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Judges are appointed often through the political process
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And the problem is once you get into this campaign business and begin to have a lot of money, then the person on the bench begins to think - what's going to happen if I decide the case this way or that way?
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We are selected, but I grew up in California and in San Francisco and there was a system of electing judges.