“The Supreme Court had the choice not only which way to rule, pro- or anti-gay marriage rights, but also how they were going to rule. They could have ruled just federalism, saying, "This isn't a matter for federal; this isn't a federal issue at all. States should decide it." Or they could decide it on equal protection grounds and say that, "Gay discrimination is wrong."” WayShouldMatterStatesChoicesIssuesRightsGayEqualCourtProtectionSupremeDiscriminationSupreme CourtGay MarriageFederalismAnti GayAll StateEqual Protection Author:Barack Obama
“... the outcome of the Clarence Thomas hearings and his subsequent appointment to the Supreme Court shows how misguided, narrow notions of racial solidarity that suppress dissent and critique can lead black folks to support individuals who will not protect their rights.” ShowsIndividualBlackSupportRightsProtectCourtNotionFolksHearingSupremeCivil RightsOutcomesSolidaritySupreme CourtDissentCritiqueAppointmentsMisguided Author:Bell Hooks
“[T]he enshrinement of constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy choices off the table.... Undoubtedly some think that the Second Amendment is outmoded in a society where our standing army is the pride of our Nation, where well-trained police forces provide personal security, and where gun violence is a serious problem. That is perhaps debatable, but what is not debatable is that it is not the role of this Court to pronounce the Second Amendment extinct.” ThinkingWellsProblemCertainChoicesForceNationsRolesRightsViolenceSecurityPolicySeriousPrideGunStandingArmyPoliceTablesCourtAmendmentsSupreme CourtMeltingSecond AmendmentGun ViolenceConstitutional RightsPolice ForceSupreme Court JusticeCourt JusticePersonal Security Author:Antonin Scalia
“Arlen Specter is the man who voted in favor of Bill Clinton during impeachment, voted against Robert Bork for the Supreme Court, voted against school choice for the District of Columbia, endorses an absolutist interpretation of abortion rights. He is bright and he is tough and he belongs elsewhere.” MenSchoolChoicesRightsHe ManToughBillsCourtClintonFavorsSupremeAbortionInterpretationElsewhereSupreme CourtColumbiaImpeachmentAbortion RightsSchool Choice Author:William F. Buckley, Jr.
“More than ever I'm proud to be an American, to live in a country that respects the rights of all to marry whomever they love. The Supreme Court decision gives new meaning to the freedoms we cherish.” GivingCountryDecisionRightsProudCourtSupremeCherishSupreme CourtCourt DecisionProud To Be An American Author:Ralph Lauren
“How to check these unconstitutional invasions of rights by the Federal judiciary? Not by impeachment in the first instance, but by a strong protestation of both houses of Congress that such and such doctrines advanced by the Supreme Court are contrary to the Constitution; and if afterwards they relapse into the same heresies, impeach and set the whole adrift. For what was the government divided into three branches, but that each should watch over the others and oppose their usurpations?” IfsShouldFirstsWholeGovernmentThreeHouseStrongWatchesRightsConstitutionCourtCongressContrarySupremeChecksDoctrineInstanceBranchesDividedSupreme CourtInvasionHeresyJudiciaryUnconstitutionalImpeachmentRelapseAdriftUsurpation Author:Thomas Jefferson
“If, even as the price to be paid for a fifth vote, I ever joined an opinion for the Court that began: 'The Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach, a liberty that includes certain specific rights that allow persons, within a lawful realm, to define and express their identity,' I would hide my head in a bag. The Supreme Court of the United States has descended from the disciplined legal reasoning of John Marshall and Joseph Story to the mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie.” IfsPersonsStatesStoriesCertainUnitedLibertyOpinionUnited StatesRightsIdentityPromiseVoteConstitutionPaidCourtFortuneSupremeRealmsReasoningBagsAphorismMysticalSupreme CourtFifthCookiesGay MarriageDissentMeltingFortune CookieSupreme Court JusticeCourt JusticeCourt Decision Author:Antonin Scalia
“There still is a war on women in terms of politicians in Washington and the state legislatures trying to eliminate any rights we have fought to win and that the Supreme Court has afforded us.” TryingStillsWarStatesWinningTermRightsPoliticianCourtSupremeSupreme CourtLegislatureState Legislatures Author:Gloria Allred
“The FBI wants Apple to write software code to help it break into the iPhone. Apple doesn't want to say this. Andrew Crocker, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, or EFF, a digital civil rights group, says the government can't make you say what you don't believe. He looks to a Supreme Court case that began in New Hampshire.” WantWritingBelieveLooksHelpingGovernmentBreakCasesRightsGroupsFoundationCourtDon't BelieveSupremeCivil RightsCodeApplesDigitalSoftwareSupreme CourtFrontiersFbiAttorneyIphoneAndrewHampshireNew HampshireCourt Cases Author:Laura Sydell
“The Supreme Court gives corporations the same rights as a human being. It's absurd. You can't do that.” GivingHumansHuman BeingsRightsCourtSupremeAbsurdCorporationsSupreme Court Author:Malachy McCourt
“As the elected representatives of the American people, all the people, nearly 300 million people, that we in the Senate are charged with the responsibility to examine whether to entrust their precious rights and liberties to [Supreme Court] nominee.” PeopleResponsibilityLibertyMillionsRightsCourtSupremeSenateRepresentativesSupreme Court Author:Patrick Leahy
“This is a time when the protections of Americans' liberties are directly at risk, as are the checks and balances that have served to constrain abuses of power for more than 200 years. The Supreme Court is relied upon by all of to us protect our fundamental rights.” YearsLibertyRightsRiskBalanceProtectAbuseFundamentalsCourtProtectionSupremeChecksSupreme CourtAbuse Of PowerConstrainFundamental Rights Author:Patrick Leahy
“The Supreme Court is the last refuge in America for our rights and liberties.” LastsAmericaLibertyRightsCourtSupremeRefugeSupreme Court Author:Dick Durbin
“The last stop to protect rights and liberties is the Supreme Court.” LastsLibertyRightsProtectCourtSupremeSupreme Court Author:Dick Durbin
“Our mandate is to be a nation of laws. And the Supreme Court is the place where we look to safeguard our civil rights and our individual liberties.” LooksLawIndividualNationsLibertyRightsCourtSupremeCivil RightsSupreme CourtMandatesIndividual Liberty Author:Frank Lautenberg