Judging Freedom - Kagan_ Supreme Court legitimacy at risk

Episode Date: July 22, 2022

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gentle guidance and encouragement to create these incredible changes for yourself and see what good can come from them. Trust me, listening on Audible can help you reach the goals you set for yourself. Start listening today when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at audible.com slash wonderyca. That's audible.com slash wonderyca. That's audible.com slash wonderyca. Hi, everyone. Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom. Today is Friday, July 22, 2022. It's about five minutes after four in the afternoon on the east coast of the United States. I've always been reluctant to criticize

directly a fellow member of the judiciary. Of course, I'm not on the judiciary anymore, but a member of the judicial community. But I must point out to you some comments made in the past two days by Justice Elena Kagan of the Supreme Court of the United States. Justice Kagan, of course, is the former Solicitor General of the United States. Justice Kagan, of course, is the former Solicitor General of the United States. That's the government's chief lawyer arguing the government's cases before the Supreme Court. And before that, she was the Dean of Harvard Law School. So no one really is going to question her education or her intellect. She's a liberal Democrat. She was appointed by Barack Obama. She's pretty much

faithful to the views of what you would expect from an Obama appointee. But recently she made some comments about the relationship between the Supreme Court and public sentiment, what the public thinks the court should do, which startled me somewhat. I mean, the court is not a democratic branch of the government. In fact, it's the opposite. But take a look at what she just said. I'm not talking about any particular decision or even any particular series of decisions, but if over time the court loses all connection with the public and with public sentiment, that's a dangerous thing for democracy. Overall, the way the court retains its legitimacy and fosters public confidence is by acting like a court, is by doing the kinds of things that do not seem to people political or partisan. Boom, Justice Kagan, you have it wrong. The whole purpose of an independent judiciary is to be anti-democratic, to be oblivious to public sentiment, not to give a damn about what the

public wants. The job of the court is to preserve our rights, our lives, our liberty, and our property from the government, to preserve the rights of the minority from the tyranny of the majority. That's the job of the court. The Madisonian genius, the genius of James Madison, when he set all this up, when he wrote the Constitution in 1789, was that justices would be tenured for life so that they wouldn't have to worry what the public thinks. If a jurist licks her finger and puts it up to the wind to see which way the wind is blowing, that's not the jurist you want. You want a jurist who's going to do the right thing under the law and the Constitution and the facts of the case, though the heavens

fall. The judges shouldn't care one whit what the public thinks. I'm outraged at this. I'm also outraged because this is a brilliant woman. You do not become the Dean of Harvard Law School and the Solicitor General of the United States and a justice of the Supreme Court because of some political favors. You certainly don't for the first two of those jobs. I know her, she's gifted and she's brilliant, but she shouldn't give a damn what the public thinks. And if she does, she's got the wrong job. Have a nice weekend. Judge Napolitano for judging freedom.