We are incarcerating more people on a per capita basis in California than any country in the world other than South Africa or the Soviet Union.

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.

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.

It is easy to be popular. It is not easy to be just.

Its always the minorities who arent a part of the mainstream who define what the limits... of the majority are going to be.

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."

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.