You have plaintiffs attorneys, you have defense attorneys. So there is no unified bar that will protect a particular judge who has made a courageous decision that’s unpopular. Anthony Kennedy Read Quote
If the case is close, 5-4, and let’s say you are on the side that prevailed with the majority, there are not a lot of high-fives and back slaps. There is a moment of quiet, a moment of respect, maybe even sometimes awe in the process. We realize that one of us is going to have to write out a decision which teaches and gives reasons for what we do. Anthony Kennedy Read Quote
Political speech is indispensable to decision-making in a democracy, and this is no less true because the speech comes from a corporation rather than an individual. Anthony Kennedy Read Quote
We hold that same sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry in all states. Anthony Kennedy Read Quote
A commitment to the Constitution is not something that’s genetic. It’s not inherited. It’s not automatic. It has to be taught. And each generation must learn about the Constitution and the values of constitutional institutions within the context of their own time, within the environment of their own time. Anthony Kennedy Read Quote
Our system presumes that there are certain principles that are more important than the temper of the times. And you must have a judge who is detached, who is independent, who is fair, who is committed only to those principles and not public pressures of other sort. That’s the meaning of neutrality. Anthony Kennedy Read Quote
1984,’ one of the most important works ever written, helped us understand the Cold War. In ‘1984,’ the dictatorship was always surveilling you. Now, young people want to be surveyed. They want people to know where they are at all times. Anthony Kennedy Read Quote
The fascination about being a judge is the same about the duty of being a judge, and that is to ask yourself, Why am I about to rule the way I am about to rule? You must always ask yourself that question. Anthony Kennedy Read Quote
We can’t bypass our heritage. We can’t bypass the knowledge of who we are. You don’t take a DNA test to see if you believe in freedom. Freedom is taught, and teaching the Constitution – I won’t go on too much. Anthony Kennedy Read Quote
Civics isn’t something where you learned – learn it for a couple weeks in high school; it is who we are. Americans defined themselves by their Constitution. That is what creates us. This is our heritage, and you must know our heritage. Anthony Kennedy Read Quote
