Patrick Leahy

I am hopeful that your background and experiences, to use the words of Teddy Roosevelt, 'the experiences of someone who has actually been in the arena' will help you be that person.

If you believe that you have a right to fall in love and get married to whomever you wish, you are mostly correct, but only because the Supreme Court intervened on the side of the America people, when it ruled in Loving v. Virginia that…

The Supreme Court was on the side of the American people when it ruled in Roe v. Wade that the constitutional right to privacy exists.

What obligation do we have to make sure they know what your thinking is?

The Court needs a person who has an ability to build consensus and find common ground.

I fear that the recent decision in Citizens United is a step backwards toward Lochner.

A Senator's constitutional obligation to advise and consent on Supreme Court nominees is probably his or her most important responsibility.

The Supreme Court, in Brown v. Board of Education, rejected the notion of separate but equal, and helped move our Nation forward toward a more perfect union.

My hope is that with your stellar academics and your stellar intellect, that your patriotism will be just as stellar.

We have an obligation not to base our decision on empty political slogans or on charges of guilt by association or on any litmus test.

I would like to see a Supreme Court justice who is able to go into the back room where the justices meet and where no ordinary citizens are present and bring some real world perspective to the room.

We know elections have consequences.

Elena Kagan, you are such a person.

The rightward shift of the Court under Chief Justice Roberts is palpable.

It is important that all Americans feel the Court represents their life experiences and their values.

This decision and its predecessor, District of Columbia v. Heller, have essentially disregarded the precedent of 71 years.

The Court, regrettably, I think, has become an ideological battleground.

The Supreme Court plays a unique and central role in the life of our Nation.

Presidents come and go, but the Supreme Court goes on forever.

I reject the ideological litmus test, from either the right or the left, that some would apply to Supreme Court nominees.

Our path to a more perfect Union also included the rejection 75 years ago of conservative judicial activism by the Supreme Court and our establishing a social safety net for all Americans.

I believe we are a better country for the fact that the path of excellence Elena Kagan has taken in her career is a path now open to both men and women.

Judicial activism now has a new guise--judicial activism to pull the country to the right.

By elevating the rights of corporations over the rights of the people, the Court damaged our democracy.

I hope this is just the beginning. Women are increasingly outnumbering men on law school campuses across the Nation.