Without the public's trust, the Court would no longer be able to act as a check on the other branches of Government and a guarantee--guarantor of the rule of law, threatening the foundations of our constitutional system.
Breyer warns that lack of public trust undermines the Court's role in government.
Share
More from Stephen Breyer
We have to have public support, and that comes primarily from people believing that we do our job. We use reason. We don`t look to just what`s popular. And that`s where you`re seeing the paradox.
It`s us, but it`s you, it`s that next generation. The one after that, my grandchildren and their children. They will determine whether the experiment still works, and of course, I`m an optimist and I am pretty sure it will.
I commit to you that I will work productively to support and defend the Constitution and this grand experiment of American democracy that has endured of these past 246 years.