As Justice Sandra Day O'connor

If A Legislator Is Safe From Competition, Or If He Represents Groups With The Same Economic And Political Beliefs, He Does Not Have To Change His Ideas Or Respond To The Needs Of The Broader Population. He Can Rest Content With A Mediocre, Absentee Performance Knowing He Will Be Returned To Office. And As He Is Returned Year After Year The Seniority System Gives Him Immense Control Over People From Other Parts Of The Country Whose Views He Need Not Heed At All.

The Stark And Tragic Images Of Human Suffering In The Aftermath Of Hurricane Katrina Have Reminded Us Yet Again That Civil Rights And Equal Rights Are Still The Great Unfinished Business Of America. The Suffering Has Been Disproportionately Borne By The Weak, The Poor, The Elderly And Infirm, And Largely African-americans, Who Were Forced By Poverty, Illness, Unequal Opportunity To Stay Behind And Bear The Brunt Of The Storm's Winds And Floods. I Believe That Kind Of Disparate Impact Is Morally Wrong In This, The Richest Country In The World.

Health Care Is Not Just Another Commodity. It Is Not A Gift To Be Rationed Based On The Ability To Pay. It Is Time To Make Universal Health Insurance A National Priority, So That The Basic Right To Health Care Can Finally Become A Reality For Every American.

What Divides Us Pales In Comparison To What Unites Us.

Wanted Or Unwanted, I Believe That Human Life, Even At Its Earliest Stages, Has Certain Rights Which Must Be Recognized – The Right To Be Born, The Right To Love, The Right To Grow Old... When History Looks Back To This Era It Should Recognize This Generation As One Which Cared About Human Beings Enough To Halt The Practice Of War, To Provide A Decent Living For Every Family, And To Fulfill Its Responsibility To Its Children From The Very Moment Of Conception.