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Supreme Court Justice Talks About Life On The Court

Associated Press
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch was in Dallas Wednesday night, speaking at the George W. Bush Presidential Center. Gorsuch says life on the Supreme Court is like working in a small office and stressed the importance of civility.

“Do we disagree at the Supreme Court of the United States? Sure we do, of course we do,” Justice Gorsuch said. “You guys give us the 70 hardest cases in the whole country. But we know how to do it respectfully, kindly.”

Having served as a clerk for two Supreme Court justices decades ago, Justice Gorsuch also said not much has changed.

“Nine of us appointed by five different presidents over 25 years. We manage to reach unanimous agreement 40% of the time. I think that’s really impressive, right? And then you say, 'OK fine, what about those 5-4 decisions?' That only makes up 25 to 33 % of the docket,” Gorsuch said. “Last year there were 10 different combinations of justices in 5-4 decisions. They don’t all fall out the same way. Not even close. And those figures have been constant since 1945. Nothing has changed.”

Gorsuch was in Dallas to promote his new book, A Republic, If You Can Keep It.

Bill Zeeble has been a full-time reporter at KERA since 1992, covering everything from medicine to the Mavericks and education to environmental issues.