Court of Public Opinion: SCOTUS May Be Playing to Media

As the U.S. Supreme Court finds itself drawn into several hot-button election year cases, there is growing concern about whether the court can keep its aura of independence. Some critics believe the court has been captured by media and journalists driving public opinion, which is clouding the justices' rulings. Chief Justice John Roberts has admitted in the past to tailoring rulings or decisions on how they may impact the perception of the court. When the court upheld the constitutionality of Obamacare in 2012, Roberts said they had an obligation to find legal rationale to keep the law, in order to avoid the potential fallout from overturning it. "Sometimes, (Roberts) is so afraid a decision will look political, so he tries to take steps to avoid that," says Hans Von Spakovsky, legal expert with the Heritage Foundation. "That effort itself makes the decision of the court look political."

Von Spakovsky tells KTRH the Obamacare decision is an example of the court putting policy ahead of the law. "It's not up to them to decide that maybe this would or wouldn't be a good policy one way or the other," he says. "They should leave that to Congress."

"I think (Roberts) ought to not worry about how the court is perceived, and simply make the correct constitutional decision."

At the same time, liberal journalists and politicians have recently launched investigations into the business and personal lives of conservative justices like Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, in what some see as an effort to intimidate the justices or ultimately try to force them off the court altogether. "It is absolutely an attempt to intimidate the justices, and an unfortunate sign of the weaponization of both the media and the federal government," says Von Spakovsky.

In our hyper-political environment, it will become increasingly difficult for the justices to rule on the merits of the law without allowing outside distractions to affect their judgment. But it can be done, according to Von Spakovsky. "You just have to be someone who says, I don't care what the editorial page of the New York Times or the Washington Post says about me."