The U.S. Supreme Court has been known to make strange bedfellows. Late Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia were famously good friends despite occupying opposite sides of the ideological spectrum. And even those justices who are not quite as chummy still maintain remarkably cordial relationships.
On Tuesday’s show, Megyn was joined by Neil Gorsuch, associate justice of the Supreme Court, to discuss his new book Over Ruled, what goes on behind closed doors at the high court, and what Americans can learn from it.
Breaking Bread
The media coverage of the Supreme Court often focuses on the narrowly decided cases that fall along ideological lines. But what happens behind the scenes is far less controversial. “We often eat lunch together – it’s true,” Justice Gorsuch said. “And we’ll talk about everything from baseball to politics to, when Justice [Stephen] Breyer is around, some pretty bad knock knock jokes that he gets from his grandkids.”
He likened the makeup of the court and its nine justices to a family that “works together for long periods of time” through “easy things” and “difficult problems.” And he thinks the American people could learn something from the way they handle their differences.
“I think they would be very proud of the level of discourse and the thoughtfulness that goes around that conference table,” Justice Gorsuch explained. “We have a rule: We speak in seniority, and everybody goes around the table and says their piece before any further discussion and then it’s just a conversation back and forth.”
He said it is “amazing” how often those conversations “yield something that we can all agree on” and that “becomes our starting place for our work.”
Shake on It
In addition to regularly sharing meals, Justice Gorsuch said there is another tradition that endures on the high court: Shaking hands whenever they see one another.
“It’s a 150-year-old tradition… [and] I think that is a wonderful icebreaker for us and for all people,” he shared. “No matter how difficult the matter of the day is, no matter what disagreements we might have had yesterday, we’re always greeting one another with a warm welcome and a question about their family or what they’ve been up to over the summer.”
In these increasingly polarized times, Justice Gorsuch believes such civility is more necessary than ever. “It is a very, very concerning thing to me when I read that… Americans today report that they often increasingly think of people on the other side of the political divide not just as wrong – which is, of course, fine – but as evil.”
While he admitted that “our whole system of government” was designed with disagreement in mind because Founding Fathers like James Madison believed the best ideas would emerge from conflicting points of view, our current state is a step too far. “When you don’t want to just say ‘you’re wrong,’ but you hate the other person or you might want to hurt the other person, that is not what our founders had in mind,” Justice Gorsuch said.
It is imperative, he said, that people are able to debate and disagree respectfully. “I think of my friend Steve Breyer, with whom I often disagree,” Justice Gorsuch concluded. “He says this – and I think it is a healthy reminder for us all – if you listen to somebody long enough and take the time, you’re likely to find something you agree with them about and maybe you start there.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Justice Gorsuch by tuning in to episode 856 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.