‘Special Report’ panel reacts to Justice Stephen Breyer’s warning on court packing.
“The rule of law has weathered many threats, but it remains sturdy. I hope and expect that the court will retain its authority. But that authority, like the rule of law, depends on trust, a trust that the court is guided by legal principle not politics. Structural alteration motivated by the perception of political influence can only feed that matter of perception.” ~ Justice Stephen Breyer
Scalia Lecture | Justice Stephen G. Breyer, “The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics” | Full Lecture
At Harvard Law School’s annual Scalia lecture on April 6, 2021, Stephen G. Breyer ’64, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, warned against alterations to the nation’s highest Court that could erode the public’s longstanding confidence in the judiciary, instead inviting the American people, and the Court itself, to work together to maintain and build trust in the rule of law.
The Scalia lecture series, which was established by an anonymous donor in 2013 in honor of former Supreme Court Justice Antonin G. Scalia ’60, is aimed at promoting and advancing the understanding of the founding principles and core doctrines of the U.S. Constitution.
