"But, I know enough people in that court, through the years, to know one thing: There's always somebody who surprises you, who rises above what they thought they appointed him for, and stays with the separation of powers, and with the right of the law to decide"
About this Quote
Faith in institutions rarely sounds so personal, but Hertzberg makes it intimate: the Supreme Court isn’t an abstract temple of law so much as a room full of people who can still astonish you. The line turns on a quiet jab at political power - “what they thought they appointed him for” - exposing the unromantic reality that nominations are often transactional. Presidents don’t just seek jurists; they seek outcomes. Hertzberg’s theology-trained eye spots the moral drama inside that bargain: the possibility of conversion.
The quote’s intent is to defend a fragile hope in constitutional self-restraint. He isn’t naive about ideological vetting or the court-as-prize mentality; he’s insisting that the system’s saving grace is human unpredictability. “Somebody who surprises you” reads like a secular version of repentance: a justice outgrows the role assigned by patrons and chooses allegiance to something larger than party or patronage.
Subtextually, he’s also trying to steady listeners who feel the court is captured. By emphasizing “stays with the separation of powers,” Hertzberg frames judicial independence as a practice, not a slogan. The phrasing “the right of the law to decide” is doing heavy lifting: law is personified as having standing and dignity, implying that the real threat isn’t one bad ruling but the idea that law is merely a weapon wielded by whoever wins elections.
Context matters: Hertzberg lived through mid-century battles over civil rights, church-state questions, and the rise of hyper-partisan judicial politics. His point isn’t that surprise is guaranteed; it’s that constitutional democracy sometimes survives because ambition miscalculates character.
The quote’s intent is to defend a fragile hope in constitutional self-restraint. He isn’t naive about ideological vetting or the court-as-prize mentality; he’s insisting that the system’s saving grace is human unpredictability. “Somebody who surprises you” reads like a secular version of repentance: a justice outgrows the role assigned by patrons and chooses allegiance to something larger than party or patronage.
Subtextually, he’s also trying to steady listeners who feel the court is captured. By emphasizing “stays with the separation of powers,” Hertzberg frames judicial independence as a practice, not a slogan. The phrasing “the right of the law to decide” is doing heavy lifting: law is personified as having standing and dignity, implying that the real threat isn’t one bad ruling but the idea that law is merely a weapon wielded by whoever wins elections.
Context matters: Hertzberg lived through mid-century battles over civil rights, church-state questions, and the rise of hyper-partisan judicial politics. His point isn’t that surprise is guaranteed; it’s that constitutional democracy sometimes survives because ambition miscalculates character.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
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