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
Stephen Breyer quotes about
american-judge developed human judges liberty necessary protecting system
We developed a system of protecting human liberty such that judges and independent judges are a necessary part of that protection.
democratic electoral element popular selected selection
I thought that that was an effort to inject a popular element, a democratic element into the selection of a person who, once he is selected and confirmed, is beyond electoral control.
american-judge people
I think it shows that if you have one group of people doing it, you'll get another group of people doing it.
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,
job stiff
he joked later, while being photographed in his garden, ''my job is to look stiff without being stiff.
american-judge convict fairly lawyer system
Well it's fairly important that everyone have a lawyer and so we have a system that you can't convict a person without a lawyer, even if he's guilty.
hallmark justice last
a hallmark of American justice in the last 30 years.
american-judge front judiciary sat senate
And in that confirmation process, I sat for 17 hours in front of a senate judiciary committee.
american-judge bad criticized judge letting turns
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.
accurately court draw formula found line mechanical single
The court has found no single mechanical formula that can accurately draw the constitutional line in every case,
independent persons selected
But once the person is selected, at that point that person is independent.
judging political process
Judges are appointed often through the political process
thinking campaigns benches
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?
san-francisco california judging
We are selected, but I grew up in California and in San Francisco and there was a system of electing judges.