“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.
“There was a huge movement that led up to [gay marriage legilization], and I played a small role in the great scheme of things. But it was really a privilege to get to do it.” RolesMovementHugeGayPrivilegeSchemesGay MarriageSmall Roles Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“Watch what happens on Twitter. One thing leads to another very quickly. And in an ironic sense, even though it's such a democratic form of communication, there's a funny way in which it leads to a hardening of a conventional wisdom much more quickly than might happen if you were reflecting on it a little more.” IfsWayLittlesMightHappensFormWatchesOne ThingCommunicationDemocraticIronicConventionalReflectingConventional Wisdom 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.
“Very quickly the lawyers in the Justice Department pulled together a set of recommendations about how we ought to defend the law as a constitutional matter. And it was the lawyers in the Justice Department who thought that it was important to include the tax power argument as part of it.” ImportantMatterTogetherLawJusticeOughtTaxesArgumentLawyerDepartmentRecommendations 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.
“Brett Kavanaugh is a brilliant, brilliant judge and one of the most-distinguished conservative jurists in the country.” CountryJudgingConservativeBrilliantDistinguishedJurists Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.