I am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences.
Sonia SotomayorRead
The task of a judge is not to make the law - it is to apply the law.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Judges are responsible for interpreting and enforcing laws, rather than creating them.
Sonia Sotomayor's quote emphasizes the pivotal role of judges in the legal system, where their primary function is to ensure that the law is applied fairly and accurately. This statement reflects the principle of separation of powers, indicating that the judiciary's duty is to uphold the law as it is written, leaving the creation of laws to the legislative branch.
Themes
JudgeLawApplyJusticeLegal System
In practice
Example use cases
In a law school class discussing judicial responsibilities.
More from Sonia Sotomayor
All quotes βThis wealth of experiences, personal and professional, have helped me appreciate the variety of perspectives that present themselves in every case that I hear.
Sonia SotomayorRead
I was fifteen years old when I understood how it is that things break down: people can't imagine someone else's point of view.
Sonia SotomayorRead
The truth is that since childhood I had cultivated an existential independence. It came from perceiving the adults around me as unreliable, and without it I felt I wouldn't have survived. I cared deeply for everyone in my family, but in the end I depended on myself.
Sonia SotomayorRead
As you discover what strength you can draw from your community in this world from which it stands apart, look outward as well as inward. Build bridges instead of walls.
Sonia SotomayorRead
There are uses to adversity, and they don't reveal themselves until tested. Whether it's serious illness, financial hardship, or the simple constraint of parents who speak limited English, difficulty can tap unexpected strengths.
Sonia SotomayorRead
Similar quotes
A person's mere propinquity to others independently suspected of criminal activity does not give rise to probable cause to search that person.
Potter StewartRead
The constitution controls any legislative act repugnant to it.
John MarshallRead
The 4th Amendment and the personal rights it secures have a long history. At the very core stands the right of a man to retreat into his own home and there be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion.
Potter StewartRead
In the last analysis, our every right is only worth what our lawyer makes it worth.
Robert KennedyRead
Where the suspect poses no immediate threat to the officer and no threat to others, the harm resulting from the failing to apprehend him does not justify the use of deadly force to do so.
Byron WhiteRead
The language of the law must not be foreign to the ears of those who are to obey it.
Learned HandRead