More Court!

If you're an avid court-watcher, or if you have any interest at all in the workings of the judiciary, I urge you to read this very thorough article on Chief Justice John Roberts. The article is based on what must have been an incredibly compelling interview with Roberts, in which he lays out how the Supreme Court must deal with the modern-day politics of personality (among other things) to retain its prestige.

Money quote:

“A justice is not like a law professor, who might say, ‘This is my theory … and this is what I’m going to be faithful to and consistent with,’ and in twenty years will look back and say, ‘I had a consistent theory of the First Amendment as applied to a particular area,’” he explained. Instead of nine justices moving in nine separate directions, Roberts said, “it would be good to have a commitment on the part of the Court to acting as a Court, rather than being more concerned about the consistency and coherency of an individual judicial record.”

Read it all (hat tip: Volokh, of course).