The Free Press published an extended excerpt from Justice Barrett's new book. Justice Barrett develops at some length the theme of King Solomon. She reminds readers that Solomon never actually cut the baby in half. Rather, his wisdom was putting forward a test that would identify the real mother, without having to murder the child. And that test has endured for milennia. Barrett writes:
"Doing justice" doesn't call to mind a judge parsing statutory language; it sounds more like King Solomon, who famously mediated the dispute between two women claiming the same baby. In a brilliant (if high risk) strategy, Solomon proposed to divide the baby in half, betting that the true mother would relinquish the child rather than see him die.
Fortunately, Solomon was right. And because he achieved the just result, the Old Testament memorializes this story to illustrate Solomon's wisdom. In fact, Solomon is also honored on a frieze in the courtroom of the Supreme Court, where he appears as one of the "great lawgivers of history."
Barrett goes on to say that King Solomon is not the right model for a federal judge. Federal judges do not decide cases based on internal wisdom, but they decide cases based on external law.
