Stephen Breyer Quotes

The advantages? Exercise, no parking problems, gas prices, it's fun. An automobile is expensive. You have to find a place to park and it's not fun. So why not ride a bicycle? I recommend it.

To threaten the institution is to threaten fair administration of justice and protection of liberty.

There are loads of countries that have nice written constitutions like ours. But there aren't loads of countries where they're followed.

You will read in the newspaper more often about federal courts, but the law that affects people, the trials that affect human beings are by and large in the state courts

It's important to every American that the law protect his or her basic liberty

The best clue to what a person thinks is what he says.

Independence doesn't mean you decide the way you want.

People have to be educated and they have to stick to it. If people lose that respect, an awful lot is lost

Every citizen has to figure out what kind of government he or she wants.

It doesn't help to fight crime to put people in prison who are innocent.

Independence means you decide according to the law and the facts.

We can speak about the institution, but ultimately the bar is the group that both is in touch with the public on the one hand and understands the judicial institution on the other

Nobody wants a judge to be subject to the political whim of the moment.

We are selected, but I grew up in California and in San Francisco and there was a system of electing judges.

But once the person is selected, at that point that person is independent.

Judges are appointed often through the political process

I mean those people who are interested in good government will certainly contribute in order to make certain there's some counter-balance to those whose interests in good government is less.