# Do members of the supreme court get along? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 8, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-supreme-court-get-along/822665 "2018-10-08T19:00:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-supreme-court-get-along/822665/1 "2018-10-08T19:00:41Z")
Do members of the supreme court tend to get along pretty well in general even though they have very different views on things? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-supreme-court-get-along/822665/2 "2018-10-08T19:22:37Z")
From what I’ve read yes, they respect each other’s point of view even if they don’t necessarily agree. It’s probably a cordial atmosphere, similar to any professional working environment. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-supreme-court-get-along/822665/3 "2018-10-08T19:28:27Z")
The office parties around the holidays can get pretty tense from what I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-supreme-court-get-along/822665/4 "2018-10-08T19:30:42Z")
I hesitated to put this in general questions but after thinking about it I imagine a fair amount of research has likely gone into this. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-supreme-court-get-along/822665/5 "2018-10-08T20:23:12Z")
According to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, they all get along just fine. > [@Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg](#): > > It may not seem that way when you read some of the opinions, but we all genuinely like each other. The press is in part responsible for that. It overlooks how much unanimity there is. Justice Elena Kagan had this to say: > [@Justice Elena Kagan](#): > > There are nine of us, and we do this thing that only the nine of us do, which you can’t really talk to anybody else about. There’s a kind of bonding that occurs because of that. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia maintained a very good friendship despite strong ideological disagreements. They often traveled together, attended operas together, and dined with each other’s families. I have read that Justices Elena Kagan and Samuel Alito are starting to form the same type of relationship, becoming good friends despite severe ideological differences. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-supreme-court-get-along/822665/6 "2018-10-08T21:15:58Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Do members of the supreme court tend to get along pretty well in general even though they have very different views on things? If you don’t mean to restrict your question to the _current_ members of the supreme court, then the answer is, “No, not always”. James Clark McReynolds was a notorious anti-Semite who refused to speak to the Jewish Louis Brandeis, even going so far as to leave the room whenever Brandeis himself spoke. He also refused to speak to, and in some cases even to be seen to be listening to, John Clarke, Benjamin Cardozo, and Felix Frankfurter. William O. Douglas was also reportedly not on speaking terms with Frankfurter. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-supreme-court-get-along/822665/7 "2018-10-08T21:42:52Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > If you don’t mean to restrict your question to the _current_ members of the supreme court, then the answer is, “No, not always”. James Clark McReynolds was a notorious anti-Semite who refused to speak to the Jewish Louis Brandeis, even going so far as to leave the room whenever Brandeis himself spoke. He also refused to speak to, and in some cases even to be seen to be listening to, John Clarke, Benjamin Cardozo, and Felix Frankfurter. William O. Douglas was also reportedly not on speaking terms with Frankfurter. It would be interesting to reflect back on past courts and what the times were like then. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-supreme-court-get-along/822665/8 "2018-10-08T22:01:00Z")
Reportedly, Elena Kagan and Antonin Scalia, who were about as far apart philosophically as you can get,[were close friends.](https://www.cnn.com/2016/02/14/opinions/david-axelrod-surprise-request-from-justice-scalia/index.html) Scalia also liked[the liberal John Paul Stevens](https://newrepublic.com/article/115039/antonin-scalias-favorite-supreme-court-justices) a lot more than he liked William Rehnquist, who was closer to Scalia philosophically. William O. Douglas reportedly didn’t get along very well with anyone. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-supreme-court-get-along/822665/9 "2018-10-08T22:15:43Z")
When you are dealing with rational intelligent people it is easy to see how very different ideologies can get along. If not rational all bets are off. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-supreme-court-get-along/822665/10 "2018-10-08T22:18:12Z")
I assume they’ll have to introduce beer to the weekly case conference. That could be fun, though. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-supreme-court-get-along/822665/11 "2018-10-08T22:40:59Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I assume they’ll have to introduce beer to the weekly case conference. That could be fun, though. And a weight set. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-supreme-court-get-along/822665/12 "2018-10-09T01:43:41Z")
> [@](#): > > And a weight set. I wonder if Kavanaugh could [keep up](https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2018/08/22/ruth-bader-ginsburg-exercise-routine.cnn)? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-supreme-court-get-along/822665/13 "2018-10-09T08:52:03Z")
Scalia and Ginsburg were very good friends (“best buddies”). It is alleged that he had a role in her appointment: > [@](#): > > When Bill Clinton was looking to appoint a new justice, law clerks supposedly asked Scalia, “If you had to spend the rest of your days arguing with Mario Cuomo or Laurence Tribe, who would you choose?” His response? “Ruth Bader Ginsburg.” Both Scalia and Ginsburg were Shakespeare fans, sometimes incorporating Shakespearean quotes into their legal opinions. Although both of them thought “William Shakespeare” was a pseudonym or frontman, Scalia did not convince Ginsberg that his choice — Edward de Vere, 19th Lord High Chamberlain of England — was the actual author. The conservative Scalia may have formed his opinion about the Authorship in part due to conversations with now-retired liberal Justice John Paul Stevens, who was a long-time “Oxfordian” (one who thinks de Vere was the principal author of the plays and sonnets). Deceased Justice Blackmun was also an Oxfordian, and retired Justice O’Connor apparently agreed Oxford was a more likely candidate than Shakespeare himself. (The Authorship controversy is a very interesting topic but attempts to debate it at SDMB have devolved into uninformed people demonstrating their lack of information. Those who wasted a Google click at all, searched for “Debunk Oxfordians” which helps debunk arguments _that the Oxfordians do not make_. :smack: ) ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-supreme-court-get-along/822665/14 "2018-10-09T14:18:07Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > From what I’ve read yes, they respect each other’s point of view even if they don’t necessarily agree. It’s probably a cordial atmosphere, similar to any professional working environment. The easiest way to piss off a legal scholar is to agree with him/her, in my experience.