Laurence Tribe: Power

Laurence Tribe is American lawyer and law school professor. Explore interesting quotes on power.

Laurence Tribe: 70 quotes0 likes

“[W]e’re skeptical that so-called "impeachment precedent" commands deference apart from its power to persuade future generations. Congress isn’t bound by its own prior decisions.”

To End a Presidency (2018)

“[T]he "dormant Commerce Clause" [is] a set of unwritten constitutional principles limiting state commercial regulation in the face of congressional silence coupled with the Constitution’s delegation to Congress of the power to regulate interstate commerce.”

Source: Soundings and Silences (2016)

“This book must... touch... deep and difficult questions about birth and death... life and its inception... sexuality and gender, about distribution of power.”

Source: Abortion: The Clash of Absolutes (1990), Approaching Abortion Anew

“[I]t is largely because I find all exercises of power by some over others—even with what passes for the latter's consent—are and must remain deeply problematic, that I find all legitimating theories not simply amusing in their pretensions but... as dangerous as they are convincing.”

Source: Constitutional Choices (1985), The Nature of the Enterprise, The Futile Search for Legitimacy

“That all lawful power derives from the people and must be held in check to preserve their freedom is the oldest and central tenet of American constitutionalism. ...[I]t was believed that personal freedom could be secured more effectively by decentralization than by express command.”

Source: American Constitutional Law (1978), Approaches to Constituitonal Analysis

“The models... (I) separated and divided powers; (II) implied limitations of government; (III) settled expectations; (IV) governmental regularity (V) preferred rights; (VI) equal protection; and (VII) structural justice.”

American Constitutional Law (1978), Approaches to Constituitonal Analysis

“[A] Bill of Rights directed against federal abuses was thought necessary in addition to the separation and division of powers...”

Source: American Constitutional Law (1978), Approaches to Constituitonal Analysis

“[T]he woman's right to decide for herself... is now subject to regulation, and possibly even prohibition, by our elected representatives. ...Even as the public agenda is stretched to address... questions as the right to die, no issue threatens to divide us politically in... as powerful a way as the abortion issue...”

Source: Abortion: The Clash of Absolutes (1990), Approaching Abortion Anew