Supreme Court author: Justice Souter wept when he thought of Bush v. Gore Mike Aivaz and Muriel Kane

Published: Friday September 21, 2007





Print This Email This When Jeffrey Toobin, author of The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, appeared on Thursday's Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert grilled him about the meaning of the book's title. "Do they have secret handshakes? Is it like the Da Vinci Code? Are there bizarre sexual rites going on there?" Toobin had to admit he wasn't aware of any secrets of that kind, but did confide that "Justice Souter was so upset about the result in Bush v. Gore that not only did he almost resign the Court because he was so upset, but there were times when he thought about the case and he wept." "You say the justices have tried to put the decision of Bush v. Gore behind them and move on," Colbert said. "That sounds like one of those movies where a bunch of frat brothers inadvertently kill a prostitute and then later she comes back and haunts them and kills them one by one. Is that it? Are they haunted by that decision?" "I think some of them are," Toobin responded. "Some of them, I think, the Bush presidency hasn't quite worked out as they had hoped." "But they weren't making the decision based on wanting Bush. They were making the decision based upon the clear law," suggested Colbert. "Well, that's that they said," replied Toobin. "Are you calling them liars?" asked Colbert. "Not liars, but I think sometimes political motivations do play a part," Toobin conceded. The following video is from Comedy Central's Colbert Report, broadcast on September 20, 2007.



