supreme court justice stephen breyer said the court would  function <u+201c>about the same<u+201d> if this year<u+2019>s presidential election were to play out like 2000. | ap photo by louis nelson 10/24/16 10:08 am edt historical precedent dictates that an evenly-divided supreme court would not create chaos should a contested presidential election come before it, associate justice stephen breyer said monday morning. breyer said the court, currently split evenly between liberal and conservative justices, would function <u+201c>about the same<u+201d> if this year<u+2019>s presidential election were to play out like the protracted legal battle over the 2000 race for the white house. he seemed mostly unconcerned by the prospect. story continued below <u+201c>the court, when it began at the time of the constitution's writing, had six members. they had six members for several years,<u+201d> breyer said during an interview on msnbc. breyer appeared on msnbc to promote his new book "the court and the world." <u+201c>they had 10 members for several years after the civil war. they functioned with an even number of members.<u+201d> breyer also refused to say whether or not associate justice ruth bader ginsburg would or should recuse herself from a supreme court hearing that would determine the outcome of a contested presidential election between donald trump and hillary clinton. ginsburg told the new york times in june that she didn't want to think about the possibility of trump being elected president, saying in an interview that <u+201c>for the country, it could be four years. for the court, it could be <u+2014> i don<u+2019>t even want to contemplate that.<u+201d> ginsburg later said she regretted the comments. the supreme court has been divided evenly since the february death of associate justice antonin scalia, a conservative stalwart. the senate has thus far refused to hold a confirmation hearing for merrick garland, president barack obama<u+2019>s appointee to replace scalia, insisting that such a decision must wait until after the presidential election. breyer said that contrary to the common understanding of the supreme court, many decisions are unanimous and only a handful are decided along a narrow 5-4 vote. <u+201c>half of our cases are unanimous. the 5-4 cases are probably, oh, 20 percent. and it isn't the same five and the same four,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>and i know that your profession believes [5-4 decisions are] all the most important, but for the average person, i would say some are pretty important, of course. but i would say a lot of those unanimous cases are also very, very important.<u+201d> the associate justice said he did not worry about the presidential campaign rhetoric surrounding appointments to the supreme court, chalking up such discussion to politics that sit outside of his control. but he did lament what he characterized as a lack of understanding of the court<u+2019>s practices among the general public and even among those studying the law. <u+201c>when i speak to a group of law students, i know what's on their mind. and i'll bring it out. they think you nine are a group of junior league politicians. and i say that's very bad for the court, and by the way, it isn't true,<u+201d> breyer said. <u+201c>and then it takes me about an hour, which i don't think you have, to bring them along to the point where they'll understand how the court does work.<u+201d> by michael grunwald by bill scher by thomas wright by joshua zeitz
justice breyer unfazed if current court faces contested election case - politico
louis nelson michael grunwald