GOP Will Pass Laws Scuttling 1st Amendment.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

40. Here's the thing about courts and judges:

Apart from a few on the lunatic fringe most judges take their work very seriously. Even Scalia, awful as he was, was trying to apply the Constitution, although his extreme originalism was kind of crazy. Appellate judges tend to believe the courts are the only bulwark against the mindless passions of the masses and will dig their heels in when they believe their role as not only as an equal branch of government but as the sole defender of the Constitution is being challenged. Sometimes they go off the rails (Bush v. Gore in particular comes to mind) but most of the time they don't. One may disagree with the interpretation or analysis but appellate courts are almost never radical, and they take stare decisis very seriously. I worked for an appellate court once, years ago, and they were very serious people who knew they shouldn't fuck around with the law.