At least there's a political input, but when you put on the robe, at that point the politics is over.
Stephen BreyerRead
Nobody wants a judge to be subject to the political whim of the moment.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Judges should remain impartial and not influenced by politics.
This quote emphasizes the importance of judicial independence, suggesting that judges must be free from political pressures to ensure fair and just legal outcomes. It highlights the necessity for a justice system that remains stable and fair, protecting individuals from the shifting moods of political influence.
Themes
JusticeIndependenceImpartialityLawPolitics
In practice
Example use cases
Citing this quote in a speech about the importance of independent judiciary during a law conference.
More from Stephen Breyer
All quotes βYou 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
Stephen BreyerRead
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
Stephen BreyerRead
Similar quotes
Evil never goes unpunished, Monsieur. But the punishment is sometimes secret.
Agatha ChristieRead
Justice should be blind especially color-blind and able to fairly deal with the very real need for honest law enforcement.
Kareem Abdul-JabbarRead
For a lawyer to do less than his utmost is, I strongly feel, a betrayal of his client. Though in criminal trials one tends to focus on the defense attorney and his client the accused, the prosecutor is also a lawyer, and he too has a client: the People. And the People are equally entitled to their day in court, to a fair and impartial trial, and to justice.
Vincent BugliosiRead
Acquittal of the guilty damns the judge.
HoraceRead
When I signed on to letting the death penalty back in, I thought the procedural protections against executing an innocent person were stronger than they turned out to be.
John Paul StevensRead
Because the Illinois death penalty system is arbitrary and capricious - and therefore immoral - I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death.
George RyanRead