Crime & Federalism

Good morning, America. I am your new chief justice. If fate is kind, I'll preside over defining conflicts for the next thirty or so years. And I need never to worry about looking for work again. I am as close to a philosopher king as American yields. Oh, tenured professors have a pulpit, but they cannot issue orders.

I promised you in the confirmation hearings that I well understood the distinction between law and politics. I will decide cases according to law, not partisan principle. Will you -- can you -- forgive that subtle deception?

I am not really so naive as to believe that the law is science. There is no over-arching conception of justice which, if seen, places all things aright. "Right reason" is a conceit of the Thomists. I have read my David Hume and understand well that reasons is, and always was, the slave of the passions.

Even so, I do believe that judging is different than mere advocacy. I believe that a judge can weigh the merits of conflicting claims, locate legal principles and then balance the interests reflected in those principles. This is what I will do. This is what all judges and justices do.

I am not a legal realist. I do not consult my appetites and then satisfy my own personal hunger when I rule. I strive to decide cases based on the broad principles and vision of our founders, of Congress and the ethos of the the Constitution as evolved. That is a task that falls to me and requires my candid confrontation of my own values.

So what happens in a close case, a case in which the equities and arguments lead in no particular direction? Do I disregard myself in those moments so as to be true to my pledge to put my feelings aside? In that case I am nothing.

No, what is required in such a case is that I decide a case based on the best vision of justice I can muster, and I can only see clearly by acknowledging where I stand. Like Luther at Wittenberg Castle I will say "Here I stand."

Of course, I refused to answer many questions on where I stand before the Senate. That is the custom in such hearings. All I can promise is that you will learn my views in the hard cases in hard years to come. I will do the best I can, seeking to build a granite edifice while laboring with feet of clay.

Thank you.