Some justices’ recent concerns about the legitimacy of the U.S. Supreme Court in the public’s eyes surfaced again Wednesday in the unusual context of arguments involving the nearly six-decade-old landmark Miranda decision.

In Vega v. Tekoh, Justice Elena Kagan told Latham & Watkins partner Roman Martinez, counsel to police officer Carlos Vega, that, if the court ruled for Vega, the decision would be seen by the public as inconsistent with the justices’ 2000 decision in United States v. Dickerson. A 7-2 court , led by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, held in Dickerson that Miranda had announced a constitutional rule that Congress could not overturn by statute, a rule that is “constitutionally based.”