“The courts are an easy scapegoat because at a time when everything has to boiled down to easy slogans, we speak in subtleties.” SpeakEasyJusticeCourtSlogansSubtletyScapegoat Author:Rose Bird
“If our courts lose their authority and their rulings are no longer respected, there will be no one left to resolve the divisive issues that can rip the social fabric apart ... The courts are a safety valve without which no democratic society can survive.” IfsLeftSocialLosesJusticeIssuesAuthoritySafetyCourtDemocraticResolveFabricRulingRipDemocratic SocietyValve Author:Rose Bird
“We are incarcerating more people on a per capita basis in California than any country in the world other than South Africa or the Soviet Union.” PeopleWorldCountryBasesPrisonUnionsSouthCaliforniaSovietSouth AfricaSoviet Union Author:Rose Bird
“Courts are an aristocratic institution in a democracy. That's the dilemma for an institution that has the function of reviewing the will of the people. We're bound to be "anti-majoritarian."” PeopleWomenDemocracyFunctionInstitutionsCourtBoundsDilemmaAristocratic Author:Rose Bird
“Its always the minorities who arent a part of the mainstream who define what the limits... of the majority are going to be.” LimitsMajorityMinoritiesMainstream Author:Rose Bird
“My role isn't to be politically smart. My role is to do what's right under the constitution. And if that's politically unpopular, so be it.” IfsRolesSmartConstitution Author:Rose Bird
“We have probed the earth, excavated it, burned it, ripped things from it, buried things in it.... That does not fit my definition of a good tenant. If we were here on a month-to-month basis, we would have been evicted long ago.” IfsLongDoeHas BeensEarthMonthsFitBasesEnvironmentalDefinitionsBuriedBurnedLong AgoStewardshipRippedTenants Author:Rose Bird
“The role of the press and the protections which we afford it are today more important than ever before, because we dwell in a society where belief in our governments and in the strength of our institutions is declining.” ImportantGovernmentTodayBeliefRolesDemocracyInstitutionsPressesProtection Author:Rose Bird
“...testifying for Dr. Privitera...To these 19 cancer victims, the enforcement of (California) Health and Safety Code Sect. 1701.1, the denial of them medical treatment, albeit unorthodox, albeit unapproved by a state agency, must surely take on a Kafka-esque, a nightmare quality. No demonstrated public anger, no compelling interest of the state warrants an Orwellian intrusion into the most private of zones of privacy.” StatesAgeInterestDarkQualitySafetyVictimCancerMedicalDenialCodeCaliforniaAgencyPrivacyZoneTreatmentNightmareCompellingDrsEnforcementDark AgesSectsWarrantsIntrusionMedical TreatmentUnorthodoxOrwellianHealth And SafetyTestifyingCancer Victim Author:Rose Bird
“The judiciary must not take on the coloration of whatever may be popular at the moment. We are guardian of rights, and we have to tell people things they often do not like to hear.” PeopleMayMomentsRightsGuardianJudiciary Author:Rose Bird
