Justice O’Connor Warns Against Judicial Inconsistency

Posted on May 20, 2007

In an apparent rebuke to the Supreme Court’s recent abortion decision, retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor told Fox News that the law “shouldn’t change just because the faces on the court have changed.” O’Connor, who time and again swung the court in favor of a woman’s right to choose, also criticized lawmakers who try to put political pressure on the judicial process.

AP via Yahoo:

“Obviously, that is a concern,” said the Reagan appointee who retired early last year. She responded to a question in a broadcast interview about the public’s perception that the Supreme Court based its decisions more on politics than principle and whether that belief undermined the court’s credibility.

The law “shouldn’t change just because the faces on the court have changed,” she said.

Her comments come a month after the high court changed course on abortion, upholding a national ban on a midterm method of ending pregnancies known as “partial-birth abortion.” It was a 5-4 decision that opened the door for states to pass additional abortion restrictions.

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