I Have No Regrets. I Don't Believe

I Owe A Debt Of Gratitude To Two Other Living Justices. Sandra Day O'connor And Ruth Bader Ginsburg Paved The Way For Me And So Many Other Women In My Generation. Their Pioneering Lives Have Created Boundless Possibilities For Women In The Law. I Thank Them For Their Inspiration And Also For The Personal Kindnesses They Have Shown Me.

I've Led A School Whose Faculty And Students Examine And Discuss And Debate Every Aspect Of Our Law And Legal System. And What I've Learned Most Is That No One Has A Monopoly On Truth Or Wisdom. I've Learned That We Make Progress By Listening To Each Other, Across Every Apparent Political Or Ideological Divide.

If There Is An ‘overabundance’ Of An Idea In The Absence Of Direct Governmental Action - Which There Well Might Be When Compared With Some Ideal State Of Public Debate - Then Action Disfavoring That Idea Might ‘un-skew,’ Rather Than Skew, Public Discourse.

Perhaps Most Important, Judges Will Have Goals. And Because This Is So, Judges Will Often Try To Mold And Steer The Law In Order To Promote Certain Ethical Values And Achieve Certain Social Ends. Such Activity Is Not Necessarily Wrong Or Invalid.

It Is Absolutely True That I Have Served In Two Democratic Administrations. You Can Tell Something From Me And My Political Views From That.