"I mean, what would you do if you were Roberts? All the sudden you find out that the people you thought were your friends have turned against you..."

"... they despise you, they mistreat you, they leak to the press. What do you do? Do you become more conservative? Or do you say, ‘What am I doing with this crowd of lunatics?’ Right? Maybe you have to re-examine your position."

Said Judge Richard Posner.

(Via AlphaLiberal.)

ADDED: Posner is admitting that there is a psychodynamic among judges that affects how judges decide cases.

IN THE COMMENTS: YoungHegelian said:

Because, when you're a grown man at the top of your game, like Chief Justice, and you screw up big time, and your friends of long standing tell you "John, you screwed up big time," what you do is go find another bunch of friends who'll kiss your ass every time you screw up big time.

What if the other bunch is the cool kids?

AND: Remember when Laurence Tribe advised Barack Obama about how Elena Kagan might have some "purchase on Tony Kennedy's mind." (I said: "I'm sure Justice Kennedy doesn't need to be tipped off to this political scheme to clamber over the crusty crags of the convolutions of his brain." But there were always other mountains to climb.)

Posted by Ann Althouse at 12:49 PM