Posted on 10/05/2011 8:00:47 PM PDT by jazusamo
Partially lifting the veil that usually guards their actions, two Supreme Court justices on Wednesday painted the court as a bulwark for the Constitution and said some of today’s cynicism about government stems from the public’s scanty understanding of the founding document.
One of the two, Justice Antonin Scalia, said there are too many federal judges and they are too heavily taken from the ranks of lawyers, which he said has watered down the quality of judges.
He and Justice Stephen G. Breyer appeared before the SenateJudiciary Committee in an unusual hearing. The branches of government usually strive to keep their spheres separate, but the two justices agreed to testify on the role of judges and the Constitution because both said they take a keen interest in trying to educate the public on the critical importance of the document.
“I feel that we’re not teaching it very well,” Justice Scalia said.
Justice Breyer said the Constitution “creates a structure for democracy” that has served the country well and said judges aren’t there to substitute for legislators, though he said they do bring their personal experiences to bear.
“This is a very big country. We have 309 million people, 308 million of whom, to everyone’s surprise, are not lawyers,” he said. “And they have many different views. And it’s a good thing, not a bad thing, that people’s outlook on that court is not always the same.”
Justice Scalia was nominated by President Reagan and confirmed in 1986, while Justice Breyer was a pick of President Clinton’s and began serving on the high court in 1994.
The judiciary is the most closed of any of the three federal branches of government, and the workings of the Supreme Court are somewhat shrouded.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
odd couple
We have a million lawyers?
And if you can't hear my tone, imagine a G.I. asking "I have clap, and crabs?"
We'll need a bag limit and season.
/johnny
That jumped out at me like a cannon ball. I know we have a bunch of lawyers but it’s hard to imagine a million of them.
At some point, it has to become a logistics exersize.
Like an elephant.... one bite at a time.
And a to-go box.
/johnny
If "Justice" Breyer knew thing one about the Constitution, he'd know that the Founders used "democracy" as a dirty word.
Clown.
I enjoyed the Justices’ confirmation of my own joy in congress’s lack of ability to act nowadays:
“Learn to love the separation of powers, which means learning to love the gridlock, which the framers believed would be the main protection of minorities,” he said. “Americans should appreciate that, and they should learn to love the gridlock. It’s there for a reason.”
We'll need a bag limit and season.
Or, no limit and a bounty.
/johnny
Indeed
Justice Jerkwad said that with a straight face?
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