The Volokh Conspiracy
Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump Agree On One Thing: Judges Should Have Courage
Both of the leading presidential candidates understand what makes a successful Supreme Court pick.
At a recent rally, former-President Trump talked about the Supreme Court:
And by the way, how courageous were our justices of the United States Supreme Court?
What they did — they're saving our country. They're actually saving our country. What they've done is — I mean, they've passed things that were so important, and they did it for the right, not for the wrong. They did it for — they did the right thing. They did the right thing.
Here, Trump was likely talking about Dobbs. He understands, intrinsically, that it took an act of judicial courage for those five Justices to cast that vote. I'll give Roberts some courage points for NFIB, but not for his lonely, failed saving construction in Dobbs.
In this regard, Trump is on the same page with Kamala Harris who favored the "bold" Ketanji Brown Jackson over the "cautious" Leondra Kruger.
Make no mistake, both of the leading presidential candidates understand what makes a successful Supreme Court pick: judicial courage.
Trump, in his unique way, demonstrates a keen grasp of how the courts work. He analogized "working the refs" in sports to "working the Justices":
And I just have such respect for the job they've done against — and, you know, the radical left plays the ref. You know the great Bobby Knight? He supported me. He used to fight with the referees all the time. Scream at him, "Bobby, Bobby, please, don't do that." It's not going to work. He said, "You're right. It's not going to work now."
It's going to work for the next one. And the next call, there'd be a flagrant foul, and they wouldn't call it. They didn't want to get screamed at. The radical left harasses our judges and harasses our justices. They scream at them. They call them names.
They say they're incompetent, they're horrible, they're this, they're that, they should be impeached. They're constantly saying they should be impeached. But they're screaming. And you know what? It has an effect on some people. But so far, they've been very strong. It's really horrible. I believe it's illegal what they do. And it's a — I'm trying to give you things that you've never heard before, and this is true. I believe they are playing the ref. They're constantly criticizing our great — some of our greatest justices and a lot of great judges.
It sure does have an effect on some people. Here, I would flag Judge Ho's Story Lecture, which discusses the fear of being booed.
