The Unintended Consequences of the Stanford Rape-Case Recall

When the Supreme Court refused to overturn Roe v. Wade, in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, in 1992, a plurality of the Justices famously explained that doing otherwise would look like surrender to the intense political protests directed at the Court. If it appeared that the Justices were bending to pressure, the plurality opinion argued, the public’s view of the legitimacy of the Court itself would be damaged. And undermining the Court’s legitimacy would ultimately harm the country, which needs to have confidence that the Court can decide legal cases independent of political causes. “The Court’s concern with legitimacy is not for the sake of the Court but for the sake of the Nation to which it is responsible,” Justices Anthony Kennedy, Sandra Day O’Connor, and David Souter wrote.

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