Covering the Supreme Court
Slate News
Slate Podcasts
4.5 • 6K Ratings
🗓️ 30 May 2023
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Right-wing activists have been waiting for a Supreme Court like this one, willing to hand down unpopular, reactionary opinions on guns, abortion, and voting rights. Meanwhile, the general public’s opinion of the court is cratering, and this year’s docket doesn’t look like it will help.
Guest: Jay Willis, editor-in-chief of Balls and Strikes.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Last week, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, gave a speech. |
| 0:15.1 | This is the first time since pre-COVID that I've given remarks of this extent. |
| 0:24.9 | Certainly before an audience... |
| 0:26.1 | It's rare for the justices to be out and about in public. |
| 0:29.2 | So it's not really a surprise that this speech was a little stilted. |
| 0:32.9 | Roberts was accepting an award. |
| 0:35.1 | His language was filled with reverence for the work he does. |
| 0:39.3 | He even quoted a former justice who called the court a symbol of faith. |
| 0:43.3 | But the main message Robert seemed to have was that no matter what you've heard, the court is doing great. |
| 0:50.3 | Our court consists of nine appointees by four presidents. We deal with some of the most controversial |
| 0:56.8 | issues before the country, yet we maintain collegial relations with each other. When I wander |
| 1:04.3 | down the halls and see a colleague, I am always happy to have the chance to chat. |
| 1:09.9 | He was giving real like Alfred E. Newman what me the chance to chat. He was giving real, like, Alfred E. Newman, What Me Worry, vibes to me, where he was just sort of like, |
| 1:15.9 | it's fine, it's fine, we all get along here. We don't ever raise our voices in anger. |
| 1:21.2 | Yeah, he is very much the, like, the, it's fine dog and the burning building, if you want to pick |
| 1:26.1 | through the memes. |
| 1:27.3 | Jay Willis is the editor of Balls and Stri if you want to pick through the memes. |
| 1:31.7 | Jay Willis is the editor of Balls and Strikes, a blog that covers the court. |
| 1:40.6 | Even as the public can see that the court is doing all manner of unhinged reactionary decisions that are out of step with what most people want, that he's sort of trying to |
| 1:45.5 | repackage, reframe this as actually it's all business as usual, everything is just fine. |
| 1:51.5 | Is the Chief Justice on the defensive here? Does it feel like that to you? |
| 1:55.5 | I think so. So a big part of John Roberts' project at the Supreme Court is packaging what the court does as neutral and apolitical. |
... |
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