“Gay and lesbian people are equal. They deserve equal protection of the laws, and they deserve it now.” PeopleLawGayEqualDeserveProtectionEqual Protection Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“If you've ever been in the West Wing, it's like a little rabbit warren. Everybody's crammed in there on top of each other, and you're eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the mess with people. And so you really get to know each other very well. So, I think they just weren't worried.” PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsWellsLittlesEatingWingsWestDinnerMessWorriedBreakfastLunchRabbitsEating Breakfast Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“I do a little bit of hand-holding on the big cases. You know, like health care, I'll call over and say, "Don't worry. We've got it under control. We have the best people working on it. We're on schedule. Stay calm." So, those kinds of things.” PeopleKnowsKindLittlesHandsBigsCareBitsCasesWorryLittle BitCalmHealth CareSchedulesHolding OnStay CalmHand Holding Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“I think what Lawrence did was provide an assurance that gay and lesbian couples could live openly in society as free people and start families and raise families and participate fully in their communities without fear. And two things flowed from that, I think. One is that has brought us to the point where we understand now in a way even that we did not fully understand in Lawrence, that gay and lesbian people and gay and lesbian couples are full and equal members of the community.” PeopleThinkingWayTwoCommunityCoupleGayEqualMembersRaisesTwo ThingsAssurance Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“What we once thought of as necessary and proper reasons for ostracizing and marginalizing gay people, we now understand do not justify that kind of oppression.” PeopleKindReasonGayOppressionJustifyGay People Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“I did think Justice [Antony] Kennedy's opinion on Lawrence was critical to that because it really, what Lawrence in one sense was, of course, about consensual sex being something that the government can't regulate. But really in a more fundamental sense, what it was saying, "Look. Gay people are normal people, and they get to live normal lives. They're not criminals by virtue of the fact of being gay."” PeopleThinkingLooksFactsGovernmentCoursesSexJusticeOpinionVirtueGayNormalFundamentalsCriticalCriminalsGay PeopleNormal LifeBeing GayAntony Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“If people can live openly and be equal, then you have to have a pretty strong reason to say they can't get married.” PeopleIfsReasonStrongEqualMarried Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“People have got to make their best calls in what they think about a case when they're covering it. But I do think the lesson there, and I guess stating the obvious, that oral argument can as often send a false signal as an accurate signal about where the thing is going.” PeopleThinkingCasesLessonsArgumentObviousAccurateSignalsCoveringStating The Obvious Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“I do think that the instant nature of the reaction now, I do think it has an effect, that people's instant reactions to things are valid and valuable. But they're not always right, and they're not always capturing the full reality.” PeopleThinkingRealityEffectsValuableReactionsInstant Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“The fact that you have a policy of such consequence directly affecting millions of people and you have a legal question of great consequence about the scope of the president's authority to act in implementing the immigration laws in this way and you have a one-line decision from the court affirming by an equally-divided court, it's an inevitable consequence of where we are.” PeopleWayFactsLawPresidentLinesDecisionMillionsPolicyAuthorityConsequenceCourtImmigrationInevitableDividedScopeAffirmingOne LineImplementingImmigration Laws Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
