Top 490 Court Quotes

Funny is as funny does, and funny puts on a walrus mask and slowly gyrates in a mall food court. I laugh at absurdity hardest, then stories, then observations, then bearded men on roller skates.

We should not have drug laws or a court system that disproportionately punishes the black community.

I consider myself a court jester – motivator.

Every generation gets the Constitution that it deserves. As the central preoccupations of an era make their way into the legal system, the Supreme Court eventually weighs in, and nine lawyers in robes become oracles of our national identity.

Any successful nominee should possess both the temperament to interpret the law and the wisdom to do so fairly. The next Supreme Court Justice should have a record of protecting individual rights and a strong willingness to put aside any political agenda.

Music is a part of my life all the time – on the plane, before matches, driving out to the court.

District of Columbia v. Heller, which recognized an individual right to possess a firearm under the Constitution, is unquestionably the most clearly incorrect decision that the Supreme Court announced during my tenure on the bench.

Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it.

The U.S. Supreme Court has established that the tribes own their water. What I’d like to focus on is doing something with the water that results in economic development.

It is a president’s constitutional right to nominate a Supreme Court justice, and it is the Senate’s constitutional right to act as a check on a president and withhold its consent.

Working with Chaplin was very amusing and strange. His films are so funny, but working with him, I found him to be a very serious man. Whereas the films of Hitchcock are macabre, he could be a very funny man to work with, always telling jokes and holding court. Of course, when I worked with Charlie he was getting older.

How an individual’s reputation is protected online is too important and subtle a policy matter to be legislated by a high court, which is institutionally mismatched to the evolving intricacies of the online world.

All the children of the great men in Persia are brought up at court, where they have an opportunity of learning great modesty, and where nothing immodest is ever heard or seen.

Well, I believe that when you are confirming a United States Supreme Court Justice, that it really isn’t Democratic or Republican; it’s American.

I have had the greatest respect for the institution of the Supreme Court. I have always believed it to be the last bastion of hope, particularly for the weak and the oppressed who knock at its door for the protection of their rights, often against a powerful executive.

That’s one of the things that I need to do on the court, is to be pretty even-keeled, and positive.

We were environmentalists of the Teddy Roosevelt theory. We believed in separation of church and state. We believed in the independence of the Supreme Court not being subject to politicians.

Henry Kissinger is the greatest living war criminal in the world today, with the blood of millions of people in Vietnam and Cambodia and Laos and Chile and East Timor on his hands. He will never appear in a court or be behind bars.

I feel comfortable on and off the court, happy in my own skin, just really comfortable with the way I’m playing my tennis.

There was no hostility at the court when I arrived.

The Supreme Court is not elected, and it is therefore not a proper arbiter of social policy.

Wells Fargo’s internal review only covers unauthorized accounts dating back to 2011. News reports and court documents suggest these problems might have existed long before then. The 2013 ‘Los Angeles Times’ articles led to the L.A. city attorney’s office investigation into Wells Fargo’s sales practices.

The Supreme Court’s only armor is the cloak of public trust; its sole ammunition, the collective hopes of our society.

The Supreme Court ruled that disabled golfer Casey Martin has a legal right to ride in a golf cart between shots at PGA Tour events. Man, the next thing you know, they’re going to have some guy carry his clubs around for him.

In 2012, the Supreme Court upheld President Obama’s overreaching mandate that forces every American to purchase health insurance or face a fine.

I basically try to visualize the team doing good things on the court the night before the game. I get shots up. There’s not actually a pregame ritual that I do. I’m still trying to figure that out. I say a prayer. I go out with confidence.

That match was late evening and I had the experience of the electricity of the Centre Court because it was packed, a full house for the whole match. It had been a great year for me, first time there and I had the full taste of Wimbledon.

They’re all focusing on how John Roberts is going to decide Roe v. Wade. That isn’t even the right question. I don’t even know of a case in the (court) system that addresses it.

I filed a brief as a friend of the court in the U. of Michigan to keep affirmative action at the U. of Michigan, which I attended the law school. And I was one of the original sponsors of making the Martin Luther King birthday a federal holiday.

Every little kid that steps on the court or the field has aspirations to go pro. I think being a pro basketball player is the best job. The thing I had to realize was that I can’t do every dream that I have.

The old boys’ club of closed tennis court relationships is on the way out.

An unemployed court jester is nobody’s fool.

The other reason that I am here today, again from the State Department and from the court record of the court of appeals, is that when I am abroad I speak out against the injustices against the Negro people of this land.

Stability in law – particularly constitutional law – is critically important; the Supreme Court would do well to remember that.

A Supreme Court decision that concessions of this sort were unconstitutional would have taken them off the table and actually increased the effective sovereignty of elected officials.

I don’t play full court anymore. I just play half-court.

I would love to get Chief Justice John Roberts for an interview. I think that would be fascinating, I think that Supreme Court nominees should do more interviews.

My versatility is my greatest asset, and I bring a unique skill set to the court.

I was very pleased that the positive things about me and my game outshone the aggressive style of play I use. I would never tone that down, because I believe in that style of play, and I believe that you can play rough on the court and still be a good sport.

You don’t want to be down 2-0 in a series. It’s always important to try and get one on the opponent’s home court. It makes your job at home easier.

It is a mistake to suppose that the Supreme Court is either honoured or helped by being spoken of as beyond criticism. On the contrary, the life and character of its justices should be the objects of constant watchfulness by all, and its judgments subject to the freest criticism.

My favorite off the court workout would be biking.

While not explicitly articulated in the Constitution, the presumption of innocence has, through Supreme Court opinions, become a fundamental tenet of our criminal-justice system, and rightly so.

Being on the court is a great thing for me.

I’m very upset that the Supreme Court ruled that citizens don’t have standing to challenge the faith based initiatives on constitutional grounds.

I went to the Capitol and came to court specifically to draw attention to the problems of the world that directly affect my state of mind and my physical body and to offer a way to clean up the world. This is my intent.

The country is yearning for a change. I’d rather take my chances on somebody new, particularly with regard to the Supreme Court.

All those lessons that I’ve learned on the court, I have applied them to my life outside of the court in business, my company, called V Starr interiors, an interior design company, and EleVen, which I wear on court.

The wonderful thing about being a New York Times columnist is that it’s like a Supreme Court appointment – they’re stuck with you for a long time.

Whatever I lack in size and strength and speed, I kind of make up for in being grittier. When it comes to something like basketball I’m definitely not the best guy on the court, but I love elbowing and pushing people out or boxing them out.

A lot of people didn’t know why I went to Cal. The Bay Area, Silicon Valley, I wanted to put myself in that position where I’m not only successful on the court but off the court.

I didn’t attend any of the court proceedings.

In terms of having the American people look at the court and think of it as being fair and appropriate for our nation, it helps to have women, plural, on the court.

In my first week as a U.S. senator, I had the privilege of participating in the Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

My life off the court has changed. I’m feeling good inside, so I guess it shows on the outside too.