U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts says he doesn't have a problem with criticism of Supreme Court decisions, but it should be limited to the decision and not a personal attack on the justices themselves.
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00:00Well, good afternoon, graduates.
00:18But we make, I mean, the court has obviously made mistakes throughout its history.
00:22And those should be criticized.
00:25So long as it is in terms of the decision, really, and not ad hominem against the justices.
00:34I just think that doesn't do any good.
00:38And, you know, the harshest critics are usually colleagues, you know, if it's the sort of thing where there are dissents.
00:47So it's something we're used to.
00:50And, again, it's a good thing.
00:52We're not immune from any criticism.
00:56And there are many, many instances in our history where it's been effective over time and leading to a better result.
01:04So we endeavor to teach our students about the rule of law.
01:09And you have to have significant precedent about when you should overrule precedent.
01:16And the one case in which you shouldn't is simply because, you know, five members of the court think differently than five members of the court used to.
01:23You need a much more substantial justification for unsettling the law.
01:29And that's an important consideration to keep in mind.
01:33I do think uncommon wisdom, but also kindness, which is not always a common combination.
01:41He was extremely thoughtful.
01:45Any kind of certain tragedy or difficulty in your life or even, you know, pleasant things, you would get a note from him.
01:53Beautiful calligraphy type handwriting.
01:59And not just, you know, sorry for your loss, whatever, but really quite thoughtful, you know.
02:05I know, you know, when they're cutting classes because they want to add all sorts of other stuff.
02:10I mean, certainly civics is the first thing that goes, you know, and I think that's really too bad.
02:18And we're developing a situation where a whole group of young people is growing up having no real sense about, you know, how our system of justice works.
02:30Thank you so much.
02:32Good job.
02:48Good job.
03:03Good job.
03:07Good job.
03:11Good job.
03:13It'sICA to that.
03:15Bye.