"My sense is that jurists from other nations around the world understand that our court occupies a very special place in the American system, and that the court is rather well regarded in comparison, perhaps, to their own"
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O'Connor is doing something more delicate than patriotic chest-thumping: she is laundering institutional legitimacy through the gaze of outsiders. By invoking "jurists from other nations", she borrows a kind of neutral authority, as if global peers are a mirror that reflects the Supreme Court at its best. It's a clever move for a judge-turned-steward of the Court's image: she can't openly campaign for esteem, but she can report that esteem as an observable fact.
The phrasing is lawyerly in its hedges. "My sense is" and "perhaps" are softeners that insulate the claim from direct rebuttal while still letting the conclusion land. Even "rather well regarded" is calibrated understatement, the rhetorical equivalent of a bench opinion that signals confidence without sounding boastful. The subtext is anxiety: prestige is being discussed because prestige feels newly contestable. O'Connor's career spans the Court's transformation into a central actor in cultural conflict, and her post-retirement public role often carried a civics-teacher urgency about judicial independence and public trust.
Then there's the small, pointed twist: "in comparison, perhaps, to their own". It flatters American exceptionalism while pretending not to. The line suggests a Court that is not just powerful but enviably stable, implicitly contrasting the U.S. model with courts abroad that may be politicized, weaker, or less trusted. Intent-wise, it's a warning wrapped in reassurance: our Court is "special" because it is perceived as legitimate; treat it like another partisan arena and that comparative advantage evaporates.
The phrasing is lawyerly in its hedges. "My sense is" and "perhaps" are softeners that insulate the claim from direct rebuttal while still letting the conclusion land. Even "rather well regarded" is calibrated understatement, the rhetorical equivalent of a bench opinion that signals confidence without sounding boastful. The subtext is anxiety: prestige is being discussed because prestige feels newly contestable. O'Connor's career spans the Court's transformation into a central actor in cultural conflict, and her post-retirement public role often carried a civics-teacher urgency about judicial independence and public trust.
Then there's the small, pointed twist: "in comparison, perhaps, to their own". It flatters American exceptionalism while pretending not to. The line suggests a Court that is not just powerful but enviably stable, implicitly contrasting the U.S. model with courts abroad that may be politicized, weaker, or less trusted. Intent-wise, it's a warning wrapped in reassurance: our Court is "special" because it is perceived as legitimate; treat it like another partisan arena and that comparative advantage evaporates.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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