The nine justices on the U.S. Supreme Court are "good and decent people," but they're also "political people" who at times will base their decisions on political factors, even if they say that they apply the Constitution to all rulings rather than acting politically, Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said on Newsmax Saturday.
"Recently, the three Democrats seem to be voting in tandem," but there have been times when decisions have come from the more conservative judges on the bench, Dershowitz told Newsmax's "Saturday Report," citing the 5-4 decision that determined George W. Bush's win over Democrat challenger Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election.
Supreme Court justices are political in nature, he said, because "they were appointed by political presidents [to] achieve political results," but still the presidents who appointed them are often angry because their nominees don't always make their decisions based on the party line.
"Remember, President [Bill] Clinton was very disappointed when the justices he appointed voted against him in the Paula Jones case, and President [Donald] Trump was very disappointed when the justices that he appointed voted against him. But that's the nature of things. You put on a robe and you at least are supposed to be nonpolitical."
Dershowitz added that he agrees with polls that show most Americans believe politics plays a role in the Supreme Court.
"That's why we have this commission thinking about expanding the Supreme Court, which would be the most political thing you could possibly do," he said. "It will mean that the next time the Republicans get into power, they'll make [the number of justices] 14, 15, 17, 21."
Dershowitz also discussed the issue of allowing guns on movie sets in response to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who died this week after actor Alec Baldwin discharged a prop gun while filming a movie in New Mexico.
Some prop guns used on movie sets are non-firing facsimile weapons, but many are real guns that are loaded with blank rounds instead of bullets.
Dershowitz said no real guns should be allowed on the set of a movie, and questions about the Constitution should not come into play.
"The Second Amendment has no application on a movie set," said Dershowitz. "Don't have loaded weapons on a movie set; it seems simple. Somebody is responsible for this, whether it's the people who were in charge of the guns ... no gun capable of firing an actual bullet or part of a bullet should ever be allowed on a set, period."
The shooting has brought up the case of rising star Brandon Lee, the 28-year-old actor and son of martial artist Bruce Lee who died in 1993 after a co-star fired a prop gun containing a real bullet during the filming of "The Crow."
Note: See Newsmax TV now carried in more than 100 million U.S. homes, on DirecTV Ch. 349, Dish Network Ch. 216, Xfinity Ch. 1115, Spectrum, U-verse Ch. 1220, FiOS Ch. 615, Frontier Ch. 115, Optimum Ch. 102, Cox cable, Suddenlink Ch. 102, Mediacom Ch. 277, AT&T TV Ch 349, FUBO and major OTT platforms like Roku, YouTube, Xumo, Pluto and most smart TV’s including Samsung+, Sony, LG, Vizio and more – Find All Systems that Carry Newsmax – Click Here
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.