Samuel Alito Quotes

I think that the legitimacy of the court would be undermined in any case if the court made a decision based on its perception of public opinion.

This was a time of great intellectual excitement for me. Both college and law school opened up new worlds of ideas.

All of my grandparents came to the United States from Italy during the early years of the 20th century. I believe that my grandparents came here to take advantage of the opportunities furnished by a growing country with an open society.

The most important quality for a judge is open- mindedness to the arguments.

As I mentioned, things were particularly hard during the Depression. My paternal grandfather was frequently out of work, and the family was evicted from their home.

I think that Congress’s ability to reason is fully equal to that of the judiciary.

I have been committed to carrying out my duties… in accordance with both the letter and spirit of all applicable rules of ethics and canons of conduct.

Good judges are always open to the possibility of changing their minds based on the next brief that they read, or the next argument that’s made by an attorney who’s appearing before them, or a comment that is made by a colleague during the conference on the case when the judges privately discuss the case.

When I became a judge, I stopped being a practicing attorney. And that was a big change in role.The role of a practicing attorney is to achieve a desirable result for the client in the particular case at hand. But a judge can’t think that way. A judge can’t have any agenda, a judge can’t have any preferred outcome in any particular case and a judge certainly doesn’t have a client.

The First Amendment, I think, is the jewel of our Constitution.

I attended the public schools.And I have happy memories and strong memories of those days and good memories of the good sense and the decency of my friends and my neighbors.

Many people have been positive influences in my life. My parents, whom I mentioned, were the most important, but many of my teachers were also a big help to me.