In the late 1970s, after a spate of federal court decisions involving controversial issues—including abortion and the Nixon White House tapes—the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Irving Kaufman, wrote, “No institution … can hope to resolve issues of such significance without frequently incurring the wrath of many members of the society.
“Displeasure with the outcome or trend of decisions provokes cries for replacing objectionable judges with others less irritating and more pliable.”
