If the issue is letting the states experiment and letting the society have more time to figure out its direction, why is taking a case now the answer?

That tide of insecurity would come in and out over the years, sometimes stranding me for a while but occasionally lifting me just beyond what I thought I could acomplish. Either way, it would wash over the same bedrock certainty: ultimately, I know myself.

I listened very, very carefully to the world around me to pick up the signals of when trouble was coming. Not that I could stop it. But it made me observant. That was helpful when I became a lawyer, because I knew how to read people's signals. When a witness hesitated, my mind would race to the conclusion that he was trying to hide something. What was it? I'd dissect the story in my brain and nine times out of ten figure out a hole they were trying to avoid.

I visit the island [Puerto Rico] as often as I humanly can. And I visit with community as frequently as possible, given the demands on me. I meet with kids. I meet with adults. I try to spend time and to listen to people talk about their lives.

The Latina in me is an ember that blazes forever.

I don't believe we should bend the Constitution under any circumstance. It says what it says. We should do honor to it.

Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences...our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging.