Political attacks on the Supreme Court and individual justices are increasingly commonplace. Those who disagree with the court's rulings are not content with criticizing the Court's holdings, rationales, and reasoning. They increasingly target the Court itself, and question the integrity of the justices.
The Supreme Court bar, by and large, has been relatively quiet in the face of these criticisms. Last week, however, noted appellate practitioner Kannon Shanmugam delivered remarks at Duke Law School in defense of the Supreme Court's legitimacy. His remarks are notable, and have attracted attention (as in this WSJ editorial). [The whole speech is available here.]
Here is a taste:
