Disorder in the Court

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Still, the Roberts court is walking a delicate line. History suggests that the moment the Justices begin to take their legal disagreements too much to heart, the court may fracture in ways that even the most capable Chief Justices are unable to repair. For that reason, all the Justices might do well to remember Ginsburg's advice for keeping your cool in the face of attacks. "I sometimes find myself alone in chambers momentarily distressed or annoyed," Ginsburg told actress Marlo Thomas in 2002, "thinking, I'd like to strangle Justice So-and-So." At times like that, Ginsburg said, she remembers the advice of her mother-in-law on her wedding day: "Of course, it is important to be a good listener--but it also pays, sometimes, to be a little deaf."

> Rosen's latest book is The Most Democratic Branch: How the Courts Serve America (Oxford University Press)