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… — Donald Verrilli Jr Copy Share
Justice [Sonia]Sotomayor said, "Let's talk - you want to talk about the tax power."And I got like a 10-minute run on the tax power. And, boy, was I glad I did because I was able to get across this idea that, yes, this is a narrower ground on which you can affirm it. And I think everybody agrees. I think… — Donald Verrilli Jr Copy Share
One thing I've experienced and I feel really grateful for now that I'm on my way out is that I felt that the justices gave that back to me. I really did. You know, of course, you can have some sharp exchanges. That's the nature of the thing, and that's fine. But really in the main I felt like the… — Donald Verrilli Jr Copy Share
I'm arguing for progressive positions on behalf of a progressive administration in front of a court who, before Justice [Antonin] Scalia's death,… — Donald Verrilli Jr Copy Share Image
Sometimes one of the justices, because they're, you know, they're brilliant lawyers themselves, can put the question in a particular way so… — Donald Verrilli Jr Copy Share Image
Very quickly the lawyers in the Justice Department pulled together a set of recommendations about how we ought to defend the law… — Donald Verrilli Jr Copy Share Image
I do think it's true that a huge amount of the oversight that the White House engages in with respect to the Executive Branch… — Donald Verrilli Jr Copy Share Image
There was a huge movement that led up to [gay marriage legilization], and I played a small role in the great scheme of things.… — Donald Verrilli Jr Copy Share Image
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… — Donald Verrilli Jr Copy Share
The moot court process in our office when we get ready, we - everybody, including the SG, does two moot courts for each argument.… — Donald Verrilli Jr Copy Share Image
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… — Donald Verrilli Jr Copy Share
The fact that you have a policy of such consequence directly affecting millions of people and you have a legal question of great consequence… — Donald Verrilli Jr Copy Share Image
The part that the public sees is the arguments up at the podium and the briefs that we file. But a significant part of the job - in fact, I'd say I spend more of my time on this part of the job, which is deciding what the position of the United States will be in the cases that we're… — Donald Verrilli Jr Copy Share
There was this point about, you know, the basic point there as well - this statute treats some parts of the country different from… — Donald Verrilli Jr Copy Share Image
What we once thought of as necessary and proper reasons for ostracizing and marginalizing gay people, we now understand do not justify that kind… — Donald Verrilli Jr Copy Share Image
Justice [Sonia]Sotomayor said, "Let's talk - you want to talk about the tax power."And I got like a 10-minute run on the tax power. And, boy, was I glad I did because I was able to get across this idea that, yes, this is a narrower ground on which you can affirm it. And I think everybody agrees. I think… — Donald Verrilli Jr Copy Share
The cases involving the question of whether U.S. courts should be open to claims of international human rights violations brought by foreign persons against foreign government officials. And the State Department on the one side has got a very consistent and powerful view that U.S. courts should be open to those claims because there needs to be a place in… — Donald Verrilli Jr Copy Share
There was only really one time that I had a substantive interaction with the president [Barak Obama] directly, and that was in 2013 when we were deciding whether to file a brief in the first gay marriage case, the Perry against Hollingsworth case. That was a weighty decision about whether the United States government was going to come in and… — Donald Verrilli Jr Copy Share
![“I'm arguing for progressive positions on behalf of a progressive administration in front of a court who, before Justice [Antonin] Scalia's death, had a conservative majority that was quite conservative, frankly.” quote by Donald Verrilli Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/331/donald-verrilli-jr-17929_administration_i-m-arguing-for-progressive-positions-on_1311980.jpg)
![“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.” quote by Donald Verrilli Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3b7/donald-verrilli-jr-17929_gay_there-was-a-huge-movement-that-led-up-to_144067.jpg)
