Stephen Breyer: Activist Judge/No Politics on SCOTUS

[nbcrusader]

Supreme Court Justice Says Consequences Key to Constitutionality

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer says he frequently makes decisions about a law's constitutionality by considering its purposes and consequences, which puts him at odds with fellow justices who try to adhere strictly to the language of the Constitution.

Breyer, on the court since 1994, didn't single out any particular justice or discuss his new colleagues, John Roberts and Samuel Alito, during his speech Tuesday at the University of Chicago Law School.

He said, however, that he hadn't detected any split on the high court along Republican and Democratic ideological lines.