Rose Bird Quotes
The judiciary must not take on the coloration of whatever may be popular at the moment. We are guardian of rights, and we have to tell people things they often do not like to hear.
Its always the minorities who arent a part of the mainstream who define what the limits... of the majority are going to be.
My role isn't to be politically smart. My role is to do what's right under the constitution. And if that's politically unpopular, so be it.
Courts are an aristocratic institution in a democracy. That's the dilemma for an institution that has the function of reviewing the will of the people. We're bound to be "anti-majoritarian."
The courts are an easy scapegoat because at a time when everything has to boiled down to easy slogans, we speak in subtleties.
We are incarcerating more people on a per capita basis in California than any country in the world other than South Africa or the Soviet Union.