I would guess my law clerks could meet (that standard) every day,

Independence means you decide according to the law and the facts.

The court has found no single mechanical formula that can accurately draw the constitutional line in every case,

It's hard,

Breyer said, ''that certainly looks to text, certainly looks to history, certainly looks to tradition and precedent -- but that also emphasizes heavily the purpose of this particular provision and the consequences as viewed in terms of the purposes, is more likely to get at what this law is about, what area of human life it is seeking to affect and how. That's what I think the essence of law is.

he joked later, while being photographed in his garden, ''my job is to look stiff without being stiff.