Rose Bird
Rose Bird
Rose Elizabeth Birdserved for 10 years as the 25th Chief Justice of California. She was the first female justice, and first female chief justice, of that court, appointed by then Governor Jerry Brown. In the November 1986 state election she also became the only Chief Justice in California history to be removed from office by the voters, which some historians claim was due to her opposition to the death penalty. However, the early termination of her office as Chief Justice...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionJudge
Date of Birth2 November 1936
CountryUnited States of America
Rose Bird quotes about
You salivate on signal; they want a Pavlovian justice.
It's always the minorities who aren't a part of the mainstream who define what the limits... of the majority are going to be.
We have probed the earth, excavated it, burned it, ripped things from it, buried things in it.... That does not fit my definition of a good tenant. If we were here on a month-to-month basis, we would have been evicted long ago.
...testifying for Dr. Privitera...To these 19 cancer victims, the enforcement of (California) Health and Safety Code Sect. 1701.1, the denial of them medical treatment, albeit unorthodox, albeit unapproved by a state agency, must surely take on a Kafka-esque, a nightmare quality. No demonstrated public anger, no compelling interest of the state warrants an Orwellian intrusion into the most private of zones of privacy.
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."
If our courts lose their authority and their rulings are no longer respected, there will be no one left to resolve the divisive issues that can rip the social fabric apart ... The courts are a safety valve without which no democratic society can survive.
The courts are an easy scapegoat because at a time when everything has to boiled down to easy slogans, we speak in subtleties.
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.
The role of the press and the protections which we afford it are today more important than ever before, because we dwell in a society where belief in our governments and in the strength of our institutions is declining.
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.
Its always the minorities who arent a part of the mainstream who define what the limits... of the majority are going to be.
It is easy to be popular. It is not easy to be just.