When I entered college, I thought that I wanted to be a lawyer, but by the time I was set to graduate, I was not too sure of that.

When I became a judge, I stopped being a practicing attorney. And that was a big change in role.The role of a practicing attorney is to achieve a desirable result for the client in the particular case at hand. But a judge can't think that way. A judge can't have any agenda, a judge can't have any preferred outcome in any particular case and a judge certainly doesn't have a client.

When I entered college, I thought that I wanted to be a lawyer, but by the time I was set to graduate, I was not too sure of that.

I think that what my parents taught me about hard work, optimism and education still holds true.

Under the president's spying program, there are no checks and balances. There is no outside review of the legality of this brazen infringement on the civil rights and liberties of the American people. Undeterred by the public outcry, the president [George Bush] vows to continue spying on American citizens.

I think that Congress's ability to reason is fully equal to that of the judiciary.

In southern Italy, where my grandparents had lived, there were few opportunities. The society was static, with rigid social classes. Poor people, like my grandparents, had little chance to improve their lives, no matter their talents or willingness to work.