I tried to decide each case based on the law and the Constitution. — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share Image
The proper role of the judiciary is one of interpreting and applying the law, not making it. — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share Image
I like to think that the court will continue to be held in high regard by the public. I think it should… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share Image
Historically courts in this country have been insulated. We do not look beyond our borders for precedents. — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share Image
I sort of thought the framers of the Constitution were talking about the rights of individuals, not corporate entities. — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share Image
I don't know how a judge can concentrate on being fair and impartial when he or she is faced with possible jail… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share Image
I think it's inevitable that some of the court's decisions will be found by a segment of the public to be not… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share Image
If you take a position under the Constitution that is against the majority view, you have to explain it well enough that… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share Image
The framers of the Constitution were so clear in the federalist papers and elsewhere that they felt an independent judiciary was critical… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share Image
It is a measure of the framers' fear that a passing majority might find it expedient to compromise 4th Amendment values that… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share Image
Most high courts in other nations do not have discretion, such as we enjoy, in selecting the cases that the high court… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share Image
The courts of this country should not be the places where resolution of disputes begins. They should be the places where the… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share Image
I'm a judge. It seemed to me that it was critical to try to take action to stem the criticism and help… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share Image
I do not believe it is the function of the judiciary to step in and change the law because the times have… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share Image
The Constitution does not protect the sovereignty of States for the benefit of the States or state governments as abstract political entities,… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share Image
Apparently a great many people have forgotten that the framers of our Constitution went to such great effort to create an independent… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share Image
What the framers of the Constitution tried to achieve when they wrote that Constitution back in the 1700s was an independent federal… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share Image
The fact is that knowledge about the Constitution and the Court is not something that is handed down through the gene pool;… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share Image
Each justice hires their own clerks, and applications are made individually to the justices. It isn't a group decision. — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share Image
It matters enormously to a successful democratic society like ours that we have three branches of government, each with some independence and… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share Image
When I went to law school, which after all was back in the dark ages, we never looked beyond our borders for precedents. As… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share
I think I learned to appreciate and treasure each day, because you don't know how many you're going to be given. — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share
I loved my husband very much, and it was heartbreaking to have him develop Alzheimer's disease, and to stand by and watch him decline… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share
My concerns through the years increased about the concerns of an independent judiciary and how we maintain it. Certainly in the states. I'm a… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share
The courts of this country should not be the places where resolution of disputes begins. They should be the places where the disputes end… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share
Young women today often have very little appreciation for the real battles that took place to get women where they are today in this… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share
You have to answer the question, like it or not. And the questions deserve a valid legal response, even if the response isn't one… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share
A fundamental premise of American democratic theory is that government exists to serve the people. ... Public records are one portal through which the… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share
I care very much about women and their progress. I didn't go march in the streets, but when I was in the Arizona Legislature,… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share
And I went off to Stanford, I was pretty young and pretty naive. And I had a professor I really loved, who was himself… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share
The really expert riders of horses let the horse know immediately who is in control, but then they guide the horse with loose reins… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share
It is true that as you have children, there are a good many months when you don't want to be working full-time. I agree… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share
The abortion cases produced an enormous amount of mail to my chambers, vastly more than to the other chambers, I am sure. I sometimes… — Sandra Day O'Connor Copy Share
