Legal Commentary

Ranking Member Feinstein and members of the committee, I?m honored and humbled to appear before you today.... 

As I said, when I was nominated to serve as a justice, I?m used to being in a group of nine, my family, nothing is more important to me and I am very proud to have them behind me. My husband, Jesse and I have been married for 21 years.... Our oldest daughter, Emma, is a sophomore in college.... Next is Vivian.... Tess is 16.... John Peter joined us shortly after the devastating earthquake in Haiti and Jesse, who brought him home still describes the shock on JP?s face when he got off the plane in wintertime Chicago.... Liam is smart, strong, and kind, and to our delight, he still loves watching movies with mom and dad. Ten-year-old Juliette is already pursuing her goal of becoming an author... and our youngest, Benjamin, is at home with friends. Benjamin has Down Syndrome.... My own siblings are here... Carrie, Megan, Eileen, Amanda, Vivian, and Michael.... My parents, Mike and Linda Coney, are watching from their New Orleans home. My father was a lawyer and my mother was a teacher, which explains why I became a law professor.... My freshman year [in college], I took a literature class filled with upperclassmen English majors. And when I did my first presentation, which was on Breakfast at Tiffany?s, I feared I had failed, but my professor took the time to talk to me. She filled me with confidence about how well I had done and she became a mentor. And when I graduated with a degree in English, she gave me Truman Capote?s collected works as a gift.

Although I considered graduate studies in English, I decided that my passion for words was better suited to deciphering statutes than novels. I was fortunate to have wonderful legal mentors. In particular, the judges for whom I clerked. The legendary Judge Lawrence Silverman of the DC circuit gave me my first job in the law and he continues to teach me today.... 

I also clerked for Justice Scalia and like many law students, I felt like I knew that Justice before I ever met him, because I had read so many of his colorful, accessible opinions. More than the style of his writing though, it was the content of Justice Scalia?s reasoning that shaped me. His judicial philosophy was straightforward. A judge must apply the law as it is written, not as she wishes it were. Sometimes that approach meant reaching results that he did not like, but as he put it in one of his best known opinions, that is what it means to say that we have a government of laws and not of men. 

Justice Scalia taught me more than just law. He was devoted to his family, resolute in his beliefs and fearless of criticism. And as I embarked on my own legal career, I resolved to maintain that same perspective. There?s a tendency in our profession to treat the practice of law as all-consuming, while losing sight of everything else, but that makes for a shallow and unfulfilling life.

I worked hard as a lawyer and as a professor, I owed that to my clients, to my students and to myself, but I never let the law define my identity or crowd out the rest of my life.  A similar principle applies to the role of courts. Courts have a vital responsibility to the rule of law, which is critical to a free society, but courts are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life.

That is, she uses her rich, personal life as a foundation for a spare judicial life. This is the opposite of what liberals tend to say, which is that a judge with a rich life brings dimension and empathy to the task of judging.

The policy decisions and value judgments of government must be made by the political branches, elected by and accountable to the people. The public should not expect courts to do so and courts should not try. 

That is the approach that I have strived to follow as a judge on the Seventh Circuit. In every case, I have carefully considered the arguments presented by the parties, discussed the issues with my colleagues on the court and done my utmost to reach the result required by the law whatever my own preferences might be. 

I try to remain mindful that while my court decides thousands of cases a year, each case is the most important one to the litigants involved. After all, cases are not like statutes, which are often named for their authors, cases are named for the parties who stand to gain or lose in the real world often through their liberty or livelihood. 

When I write an opinion resolving a case, I read every word from the perspective of the losing party. I ask myself how I would view the decision if one of my children was the party that I was ruling against. Even though I would not like the result, would I understand that the decision was fairly reasoned and grounded in law. That is the standard that I set for myself in every case. And it is the standard that I will follow so long as I am a judge on any court. 

So she exercises empathy, but in service of an austere form of judging. It's how to be fair to all the parties ? to do only and exactly what you see the law as requiring.

When the President offered me this nomination, I was deeply honored, but it was not a position I had sought out and I thought carefully before accepting. The confirmation process and the work of serving on the court, if confirmed requires sacrifices, particularly from my family. I chose to accept the nomination because I believe deeply in the rule of law and the place of the Supreme Court in our nation. I believe Americans of all backgrounds deserve an independent Supreme Court that interprets our constitution and laws as they are written. And I believe I can serve my country by playing that role. 

I come before this committee with humility about the responsibility that I have been asked to undertake and with appreciation for those who have come before me. 

I was nine years old when Sandra Day O?Connor became the first woman to sit in this seat. She was a model of grace and dignity throughout her distinguished tenure on the court. When I was 21 years old and just beginning my career, Ruth Bader Ginsburg sat in the seat. She told the committee, ?What has become of me could only happen in America.? I have been nominated to fill Justice Ginsburg?s seat, but no one will ever take her place. I will be forever grateful for the path she marked and the life she led.

A fine tribute to all of the women ? 2 women ? who have completed their service on the Supreme Court.

If confirmed, it would be the honor of a lifetime to serve alongside the chief justice and seven associate justices. I admire them all and would consider each a valued colleague and I might bring a few new perspectives to the bench. As the president noted, when he announced my nomination, I would be the first mother of school-age children to serve on the court... 

I believe in the power of prayer and it has been uplifting to hear that so many people are praying for me....