Justice Samuel Alito fired back at the critics of the Roe v. Wade decision warning they are crossing the line by accusing the Supreme Court of becoming an “illegitimate institution.”
Alito didn’t name names but he was likely talking about other Supreme Court justices or a large number of elected Democrats in Washington D.C.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor said recently: “Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts?
“I don’t see how it is possible.”
Justoce Elana Kagan said recently “When courts become extensions of the political process, when people see them as extensions of the political process, when people see them as trying just to impose personal preferences on a society irrespective of the law, that’s when there’s a problem — and that’s when there ought to be a problem.
“It just doesn’t look like law when some new judges appointed by a new president come in and just start tossing out the old stuff.”
Justices Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, and Elana Kagan wrote a dissent in the abortion ruling, arguing that the decision “undermines the Court’s legitimacy.”
Chief Justice Roberts was not happy and said earlier:
“Simply because people disagree with an opinion is not a basis for questioning the legitimacy of the court… doesn’t change simply because people disagree with this opinion or that opinion or disagree with the particular mode of jurisprudence.”
But Justice Alito turned up the heat when told the Wall Street Journal they are crossing the line:
“It goes without saying that everyone is free to express disagreement with our decisions and to criticize our reasoning as they see fit.
“But saying or implying that the court is becoming an illegitimate institution or questioning our integrity crosses an important line.”
Elena Kagan v. John Roberts: Justices spar over Supreme Court’s legitimacy after a momentous year https://t.co/vTmejBr2om via @WSJ
— Jess Bravin (@JessBravin) September 29, 2022
Samuel Alito suggested that critics of the Supreme Court’s conservative majority have crossed an important line by questioning the institution’s legitimacy.
But if anyone’s gone too far in an irresponsible direction, it’s Alito. https://t.co/FQ74Mr6Tq8
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen) September 29, 2022
“It just doesn’t look like law when some new judges appointed by a new president come in and just start tossing out the old stuff,” Justice Kagan said. JJ. Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett, confirmed during Trump’s single term, quickly voted to overrule Roe. https://t.co/YMlOstRDgk
— Jess Bravin (@JessBravin) September 29, 2022
