Liberal SCOTUS Judge Warns Dems About Remaking Court: “What goes around comes around, and if the Democrats can do it, the Republicans can do it”
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer issued a warning to his friends in the DEm Party about remaking the court telling them to be very careful what they wish for because they may just get it.
In his new book, The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics, Breyer says that over time, public acceptance of Supreme Court opinions, even those you may disagree with, has become commonplace
He said this did not come easy and it is key to the rule of law that these decisions are not viewed as partisan rulings.
“He said the most remarkable thing about this case is, even though probably half the country didn’t like it at all, and it was totally wrong, in his opinion and in mine, people followed it, and they didn’t throw brickbats at each other and they didn’t have riots,” he said of what Harry Reid said of the Bush v Gore decision in 2000.
He said we need to keep that bipartisan court before warning the Dems: “What goes around comes around. And if the Democrats can do it, the Republicans can do it.”
“I think it’s better to be there where you can actually see the lawyer and see your colleagues, and you get more of a human interaction,” he said of the end of COVID protocols.
“We’re not automatons. We’re human beings,” he said.
“And I believe when human beings discuss things face to face there’s a better chance of working things out.
‘That’s true with the lawyers in oral arguments, and it’s true with the nine of us when we’re talking,” he said.
From The Hill:
President Biden signed an executive order in April establishing a commission to study whether to add seats to the Supreme Court, an idea that Biden himself has remained neutral on.
Breyer has previously warned against so-called court-packing.
In remarks for Harvard Law School in April, Breyer warned that changing the court could harm public trust in the institution.
Breyer’s book argues that public acceptance of the high court’s opinions have fortified the rule of law as essential to democracy, according to the news outlet.
In the NPR interview, Breyer pointed to comments former Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) made following the 2000 presidential election, when the Supreme Court essentially ruled that George W. Bush won the race.