Opening statement - Brownback

Using MS Word to summarize Brownback's opening statement:

I welcome you to the court. One of the statements was that we need a more modest court. We need a more modest court, a court that's a court but not a super-legislature, as you've heard others refer to, or is in a different role, but is a court.

In our system of government, the Constitution contemplates that federal courts will exercise limited jurisdiction. If you're confirmed, your court will decide if there is a constitutional right to partially deliver a late-term child and then destroy it. Partial-birth abortion is making its way to the Supreme Court. The federal courts have thus far found laws limiting partial-birth abortion unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court frequently has overruled prior precedents, I would note. The Supreme Court has boundaries, too. For instance, the court cannot appropriate money.