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Judges are like umpires. Umpires don’t make the rules. They apply them.

John Roberts

By ensuring that no one in government has too much power, the Constitution helps protect ordinary Americans every day against abuse of power by those in authority.
JOHN ROBERTS

Authority Government Help Ordinary Power Protection
The Romans had been able to post their laws on boards in public places, confidant that enough literate people existed to read them; far into the Middle Ages, even kings remained illiterate.
JOHN ROBERTS

Board Education Existence Law Literate People Place Public Reading
Sometimes it’s just surreal out there, while you’re running a marathon. People just standing out in the cold, even the rain, cheering for you, blasting music for you. It’s an awesome show of camaraderie and community.
JOHN ROBERTS

Cold Community Dreams Music Nostalgia Rain Reality Run Stand
If it’s a situation in which the public is being given access, you can’t discriminate against the media and say, as a general matter, that the media don’t have access, because their access rights, of course, correspond with those of the public.
JOHN ROBERTS

Discrimination Public Right Situation
We are always in awe of what the donors have done in terms of providing of themselves to the recipients. It really is a heroic act because people take on themselves not only a risk of death but also pain-and-suffering in order for their loved one to get the benefit of the liver transplant.
JOHN ROBERTS

Act Compassionate Death Generosity Hero Hospital Kindness Love Pain Risk Suffering
You don’t doubt that the lobby supporting the enactment of same sex-marriage laws in different states is politically powerful, do you? As far as I can tell, political figures are falling over themselves to endorse your side of the case.
JOHN ROBERTS

Case Different Doubt Fall Law Marriage Politics Sex Side Support
Anytime you get nine people together, whether it’s at a party or it’s in the conference room of the Supreme Court, you do have to maintain some order, or it does kind of degenerate into squabbling pretty quickly.
JOHN ROBERTS

Kind Maintain Order Party People Quick Room Time Togetherness Yourself
Trivial facts are often the best hints to what is going on.
JOHN ROBERTS

Best Fact Scene
Judges are like umpires. Umpires don’t make the rules. They apply them.
JOHN ROBERTS

Apply Judgement Rule
If the Constitution says that the little guy should win, the little guy is going to win in court before me, … But if the Constitution says that the big guy should win, well, then the big guy is going to win because my obligation is to the Constitution.
JOHN ROBERTS

Constitution Guy Loyalty Myself Obligation Politics Responsibility Win
The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.
JOHN ROBERTS

Discrimination Oppression Race Stop Way
People, for reasons of their own, often fail to do things that would be good for them or good for society.
JOHN ROBERTS

Failure Goodness People Reason Society
I think judicial temperament is a willingness to step back from your own committed views of the correct jurisprudential approach and evaluate those views in terms of your role as a judge. It’s the difference between being a judge and being a law professor.
JOHN ROBERTS

Commitment Judgement Judiciary Law Role Temper Thinking View Willing
I find that when I tell lawyer jokes to a mixed audience, the lawyers don’t think they’re funny and the non-lawyers don’t think they’re jokes.
JOHN ROBERTS

Audience Joke Law Myself
I think judicial temperament is a willingness to step back from your own committed views of the correct jurisprudential approach and evaluate those views in terms of your role as a judge.
JOHN ROBERTS

Commitment Correct Judgement Judicial Role Temper View Willing Yourself
People, for reasons of their own, often fail to do things that would be good for them or good for society. Those failures – joined with the similar failures of others – can readily have a substantial effect on interstate commerce.
JOHN ROBERTS

Effect Failure Goodness People Reason Society Welfare
If it’s a situation in which the public is being given access, you can’t discriminate against the media and say, as a general matter, that the media don’t have access, because their access rights, of course, correspond with those of the public.
JOHN ROBERTS

Access Discrimination Media Public Right Situation
The Affordable Care Act’s requirement that certain individuals pay a financial penalty for not obtaining health insurance may reasonably be characterized as a tax.
JOHN ROBERTS

Act Care Character Reason Tax
Senator, my answer is that the independence and integrity of the Supreme Court requires that nominees before this committee for a position on that court not forecast, give predictions, give hints, about how they might rule in cases that might come before the Supreme Court,.
JOHN ROBERTS

Committee Court Independence Integrity Myself Prediction Rule
An important function of the Supreme Court is to provide guidance, As a lower court judge, I appreciate clear guidance from the Supreme Court.
JOHN ROBERTS

Court Function Guidance Important Judgement Myself
You can’t fight for your rights if you don’t know what they are.
JOHN ROBERTS

Fight Right Unknown Yourself
The States are separate and independent sovereigns. Sometimes they need to act like it.
JOHN ROBERTS

Act Independent Need Politics Separate
The Affordable Care Act’s requirement that certain individuals pay a financial penalty for not obtaining health insurance may reasonably be characterized as a tax.
JOHN ROBERTS

Care Character Finance Health Reason

Judges are like umpires. Umpires don’t make the rules. They apply them.

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Judges are like umpires. Umpires don’t make the rules. They apply them.

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