Criminal Law Library Blog
Introduction
In a recent analysis published in Justia’s Verdict, Cornell Law professor Michael Dorf critiques two high-profile television interviews in which Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Sonia Sotomayor promoted their new books, Barrett’s constitutional memoir Listening to the Law and Sotomayor’s children’s book Just Shine. Dorf suggests that, far from reinforcing the Court’s legitimacy, these media appearances risk reducing the Justices to TV personalities and sidestepping significant concerns about the Court’s institutional health. As Listening to the Law urges readers to engage with originalism and constitutional interpretation while championing judicial modesty, Dorf argues it fails to grapple meaningfully with recent shifts in the Court’s emergency docket and broader threats to democratic norms.