A conservative justice on the US Supreme Court made fun of international leaders who denounced last month’s decision that nullified abortion rights in the US.
The decision’s author, Justice Samuel Alito, disregarded concerns from a number of notable people, including UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
He made light of the fact that Mr Johnson, who is leaving office in September, had “paid the price” for opposing the decision.
Mr Alito, a devoted Catholic, was giving a speech in Rome at a gathering.
According to Mr. Alito, “I had the pleasure this term of writing what I believe to become the first supreme court decision in the institution’s history that has been criticised by a long list of foreign leaders who felt entirely good commenting on American law.”
The Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who had denounced the “rolling back of constitutional rights” in the US during a speech to the UN earlier this month, were also mentioned by Mr. Alito.
When the Duke of Sussex addressed at the UN and appeared to connect the ruling whose name may not be stated with the Russian war on Ukraine, Mr. Alito observed, “What really stung me.”
When Prince Harry declared in his speech to the UN: “From the tragic war in Ukraine to the rolling back of constitutional rights here in the United States, we are witnessing a worldwide assault on democracy and freedom,” it looked like he was alluding to the abortion verdict.
He stated that there were many locations where religious freedom was being attacked because it posed a threat to those seeking total control.
Mr. Alito, who was nominated to the court by President George W. Bush in 2006, made an intervention that is incredibly uncommon for a Supreme Court justice. The chief justice of the United States’ highest court is typically expected to stay out of political discussions.
Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez wrote on Twitter that the voters should be alarmed by the chief judge’s “politicised words” and that the “Supreme Court is in a legitimacy crisis.”
Mr. Alito’s statement coincided with Justice Elena Kagan’s warning that it would be “dangerous for a democracy” if the court’s conservative majority lost the support of the public.
She stated at a conference in Montana, “I’m not talking about any specific case or even any specific set of rulings, but if over time the court loses any touch with the public and with popular emotion, that’s a bad thing for a democracy.
In the wake of numerous contentious court decisions, opinion polls indicate that trust in the court is at an all-time low. Only 25% of those surveyed stated they had faith in the body.