From Justice
Stephen Breyer’s
2021 e-book, “The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics”:
I’m discussing the overall tendency of the general public to respect and to observe judicial selections, a behavior developed over the course of American historical past. Were it not the case, courts that the general public tended to disregard wouldn’t see their interpretations of legislation utilized usually, as they’re in our system. Parties who disagree with a specific determination, focusing upon its specific stakes, could be unperturbed by such a state of affairs. But what, then, would have occurred to all these Americans who espoused unpopular political opinions, to those that practiced or advocated minority religions, to those that argued for an finish to authorized segregation within the South? What would have occurred to felony defendants unable to afford a lawyer, to these whose homes authorities officers wished to look with out possible trigger, to these whose property authorities wished to grab with little or no compensation? . . . The rule of legislation shouldn’t be a meal that may be ordered à la carte. Let my examples warn in opposition to taking public acceptance of the Court’s authority without any consideration.
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Appeared within the June 30, 2022, print version as ‘Notable & Quotable: Breyer.’
Source: www.wsj.com”