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4. Robert Bork
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Robert Bork Quotes about Judging

When a judge goes beyond [his proper function] and reads entirely new values into the Constitution, values the framers and ratifiers did not put there, he deprives the people of their liberty. That liberty, which the Constitution clearly envisions, is the liberty of the people to set their own social agenda through the process of democracy.

Robert Bork

People, Judging, Democracy

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In a constitutional democracy the moral content of law must be given by the morality of the framer or legislator, never by the morality of the judge.

Robert Bork

Law, Judging, Democracy

Robert H. Bork (2009). “The Tempting of America”, p.318, Simon and Schuster

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Those who made and endorsed our Constitution knew man's nature, and it is to their ideas, rather than to the temptations of utopia, that we must ask that our judges adhere.

Robert Bork

Men, Ideas, Judging

Robert H. Bork (2009). “The Tempting of America”, p.355, Simon and Schuster

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The judge's authority derives entirely from the fact that he is applying the law and not his personal values. That is why the American public accepts the decisions of its courts, accepts even decisions that nullify the laws a majority of the electorate or their representatives voted for.

Robert Bork

Law, Judging, Decision

Robert H. Bork (2009). “The Tempting of America”, p.300, Simon and Schuster

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When a judge assumes the power to decide which distinctions made in a statute are legitimate and which are not, he assumes the power to disapprove of any and all legislation, because all legislation makes distinctions

Robert Bork

Judging, Assuming, Legislation

Robert H. Bork (2009). “The Tempting of America”, p.65, Simon and Schuster

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