..the United States Is Subject To The

Dissents Speak To A Future Age. It's Not Simply To Say, 'my Colleagues Are Wrong And I Would Do It This Way.' But The Greatest Dissents Do Become Court Opinions And Gradually Over Time Their Views Become The Dominant View. So That's The Dissenter's Hope: That They Are Writing Not For Today But For Tomorrow.

I Conceived Of Myself In Large Part As A Teacher. There Wasn't A Great Understanding Of Gender Discrimination. People Knew That Race Discrimination Was An Odious Thing, But There Were Many Who Thought That All The Gender-based Differentials In The Law Operated Benignly In Women's Favor. So My Objective Was To Take The Court Step By Step To The Realization, In Justice Brennan's Words, That The Pedestal On Which Some Thought Women Were Standing All Too Often Turned Out To Be A Cage.

If You Ask Judges, Do You Always Agree On Everything? Of Course Not, We Divide Just As You Do. Why Aren't You Transparent About It? Because The People Would Begin To Think That The Law Is Not Stable, The Law Is Unclear. And That Would Not Give Them Much Faith In The Law.

I Would Not Look To The United States Constitution If I Were Drafting A Constitution In The Year 2012.

Even The Declaration Of Independence Starts Out All Men Are Created Equal, So I See My Advocacy As Part Of An Effort To Make The Equality Principle Everything The Founders Would Have Wanted It To Be If They Weren't Held Back By The Society In Which They Lived And Particularly The Shame Of Slavery.