Supreme Court Justice Breyer denies influence of politics
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer on Wednesday sought to dispel the widespread public notion that judges rule under the influence of politics, deeming that impression “grossly distorted.”
“I never get to say what I think is good. It’s much more complicated than that,” he told an audience at the Los Angeles Public Library in a town hall-style exchange.
Breyer, appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994, said some of the Supreme Court’s most vilified decisions through history were the disastrous results of judges pursuing political objectives. The most notable example, he said, might be the 1857 Dred Scott decision that ruled descendants of Africans brought to the United States weren’t protected by the Constitution.
Those few instances where politics drives a decision show that “judges make terrible politicians,” Breyer said.
Asked about the high court’s controversial decision that George W. Bush was the winner of the 2000 presidential election against Vice President Al Gore, Breyer said that he thought the majority was wrong and that it damaged public confidence and trust in the federal judiciary at the time.
“But it recovers,” the justice said of the Supreme Court’s standing in the eyes of the American public. “I think we have a pretty strong institution.”
Breyer, 72, often votes with what is perceived as a liberal minority among the nine justices. But he took a centrist path on the issue of whether Supreme Court hearings should be accessible to more people by allowing television to broadcast oral arguments — a bow to modernity that Chief Justice John Roberts has vehemently opposed.
Breyer said there were many good arguments for broadcast coverage but noted that what happens in open court is a small part of a case and could leave the public with an incomplete view of the complex issues covered in the written submissions.
He also expressed concern that televised hearings could diminish the dignity and decorum of the court.
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