Poll numbers down, justices say they aren’t politicians

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three Supreme Court justices delivered the same plea in rapid succession in recent days: Don’t view justices as politicians.

The call by justices Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer and Amy Coney Barrett for the public not to see court decisions as just an extension of partisan politics isn’t new.

But the timing of the recent comments is significant, just after a summer in which conservative majorities on the court prevailed over liberal dissents on abortion, immigration and evictions, and at the start of a blockbuster term.

The future of abortion rights and expansions of gun and religious rights already are on the docket. Other contentious cases could be added.

The outcome in each could fracture the court along ideological lines, with the court's six conservative justices chosen by Republican presidents prevailing over its three liberals nominated by Democrats.

To some observers, the Supreme Court is facing the most serious threat to its legitimacy since its decision in Bush v. Gore two decades ago that split liberals and conservatives and effectively settled the disputed 2000 presidential election in favor of Republican George W. Bush.

“I think we may have come to a turning point. If within a span of a few terms we see sweeping right-side decisions over left-side dissents on every one of the most politically divisive issues of our time — voting, guns, abortion, religion, affirmative action — perception of the court may be permanently altered,” said Irv Gornstein, executive director of Georgetown University’s Supreme Court Institute.