“I had a great deal of independence from the president and the White House during the entirety of my five years. And I'm not sure exactly what that is, but our friend, Walter Dellinger, has a theory about it, and I think he's probably right. And the theory starts with the fact that I worked in the White House for a year and a half before coming over to the position of SG. And because of that, when I was nominated, there was some chatter out there that, "Oh. They're putting a political hack in. This has never happened before."” ThinkingYearsFactsPoliticalHousePresidentWhiteDealsHalfFiveHappenedPositionTheoryIndependenceNot SureFive YearsWhite HouseHacksChatterEntirety Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“I do think it's true that a huge amount of the oversight that the White House engages in with respect to the Executive Branch is out of fear that somebody's going to do something crazy and drive the president off a cliff.” ThinkingHousePresidentWhiteCrazyHugeAmountBranchesExecutivesWhite HouseCliffsOversightExecutive Branch 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 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.
“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.
“I don't think this is a situation where you can say that Congress was avoiding any mention of the tax power. It'd be one thing if Congress explicitly disavowed an exercise of the tax power. But given that it hasn't done so, it seems to me that it's - not only is it fair to read this as an exercise of the tax power, but this court has got an obligation to construe it as an exercise of the tax power if it can be upheld on that basis.” IfsThinkingDoneSeemsGivenSituationOne ThingExerciseTaxesFairsBasesCourtCongressObligationAvoiding Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“The president [Barak Obama] had been asked some questions by George Stephanopoulos on a news show about whether it was a tax. And he had given an answer that you might read as him saying it wasn't a tax. I think what he said was, "It isn't a tax increase on all Americans."” ThinkingSaidShowsMightGivenPresidentAnswersTaxesNewsIncreaseTax IncreasesBarak Obama Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“Justice [Sonia]Sotomayor said, "Let's talk - you want to talk about the tax power."And I got like a 10-minute run on the tax power. And, boy, was I glad I did because I was able to get across this idea that, yes, this is a narrower ground on which you can affirm it. And I think everybody agrees. I think even the dissenting justices ultimately in the case agreed that, if Congress had expressly called it a tax, it would be indisputably constitutional.” IfsThinkingWantSaidIdeasWould BeRunningAbleJusticeBoysCasesMinutesTaxesAgreeCongressGlad Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“I think what happened is that everybody's impressions got formed in those first few minutes. And I felt like, by the latter part of it, I kind of clawed my way back into the discussion. But everybody's impressions were set at the beginning. And wholly apart from me and whether I was good or bad, you know, there were a lot of hostile questions.” ThinkingKnowsWayFirstsKindFeltHappenedMinutesImpressionMy WayDiscussionLatterHostile 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.
“I'm representing the United States. And I'm representing the United States, and my office is representing the United States day after day in front of the court. And I think it's the right thing to do, to carry that out with some dignity and some respect for the process and respect for the institution. And so that led me to just, you know, move the dial a little bit in the direction of calmness.” ThinkingKnowsLittlesStatesMovingBitsProcessUnitedUnited StatesFrontsOfficeLittle BitDignityInstitutionsCourtThings To DoRight ThingCalmnessRepresenting Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
