Supreme Court Isn’t Fractured, Justices Say

Despite the 5-4 votes and the blistering dissents, the Supreme Court is not fractured, Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Stephen G. Breyer said in a rare television interview.

The justices talked about terrorism, cameras in the courtroom, the tough decisions they face, and their legacies in the wide-ranging interview broadcast Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

O’Connor dodged questions about retirement after 22 years on the court. The justice, who was appointed by President Reagan, denied published reports that her husband had told people on election night in 2000 that she wanted George W. Bush to win the presidency so she could step down. When asked whether people could take from her silence that she intended to remain on the court another year, she said only: “I assume so.”

The joint interview was highly unusual. Some of the court’s nine members give no interviews. Those who do grant them only rarely.

The program was taped Friday in Philadelphia, where O’Connor received the city’s Liberty Medal. ABC provided a transcript in advance of the broadcast.

The justices were not asked about cases in the recently completed term. In it, the court upheld the continued use of race as a factor in university admissions and issued a sweeping ruling that said gay men and women cannot be prosecuted for what they do in their bedrooms.

Both rulings were opposed by the court’s most conservative members and prompted angry dissenting opinions. O’Connor said life goes on after divisive cases. “When you work in a small group of that size, you have to get along, and so you’re not going to let some harsh language, some dissenting opinion, affect a personal relationship,” she said. “You can’t do that.”

She said the high court, naturally, must deal with the toughest cases, “where you can make a good argument on either side.”

About 20% of the court’s rulings in the most recent term were decided on 5-4 votes, including the most high-profile cases.

Both justices expressed reservations about allowing television cameras in the Supreme Court.

On the issue of terrorism, Breyer said courts must balance national security and liberty rights. “Nobody wants to harm security and nobody wants, unnecessarily, you see, to prevent people from doing what they’d like to do,” said Breyer, who was put on the court by President Clinton.

The two said they want to be remembered as doing their best.

“I’ve always just said that I hope, at the end of the day, it can be said on my tombstone: Here lies a good judge,” O’Connor said.