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

I have been a judge for 15 years and I've made up my own mind during all that time.

It's been a great honor for me to spend my career in public service.

When I get a case about discrimination, I have to think about people in my own family who suffered discrimination because of their ethnic background or because of religion or because of gender. And I do take that into account.

My mother worked for more than a decade before marrying. She went to New York City to get a master's degree. And she continued to work as a teacher and a principal until she was forced to retire.Both she and my father instilled in my sister and me a deep love of learning.

I've learned a lot during my years on the 3rd Circuit, particularly, I think, about the way in which a judge should go about the work of judging. I've learned by doing, by sitting on all of these cases. And I think I've also learned from the examples of some really remarkable colleagues.

Private religious speech can't be discriminated against. It has to be treated equally with secular speech.