Stephen Breyer

We are selected, but I grew up in California and in San Francisco and there was a system of electing judges.

You can have many different selection systems, but the bottom line has to be a system that, once the judge takes office that judge will feel that he or she is to decide the case without reference to the popular thing or the popular will of the moment.

Judges are appointed often through the political process.

And in that confirmation process, I sat for 17 hours in front of a senate judiciary committee.