THEY SHOULD BE TREATED LIKE UMPIRES, NOT TEAM OWNERS, TEAM FANS OR PLAYERS. JOINING US NOW, FORMER LAW CLERK TO JUDGE SONIA SOTOMAYOR, AND LEGAL ANALYST, MELISSA MURRAY. JAMIE RASKIN ARGUES THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE INCLUDING THE U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND SPECIAL COUNSEL, SOLICITOR GENERAL, ALL OF WHOM WERE INVOLVED IN DIFFERENT WAYS OF THE CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS UNDERLYING THE JANUARY 6th CASES IN FRONT OF THE SUPREME COURT CAN PETITION THE OTHER SEVEN JUSTICES TO REQUIRE JUSTICE ALITO AND THOMAS TO RECUSE THEMSELVES, NOT AS A MATTER OF GRACE BUT A MATTER OF LAW. IS HE RIGHT ABOUT THAT? >> YES, I THINK HE'S RIGHT. GIVEN THE CONSTITUTION, THE DUE PROCESS CLAUSE AND THE STATUTE TO WHICH HE REFERS IN THE OP-ED, ALL OF THAT CAN BE DONE. IT'S A HAIL MARY STYLE PASS, AND THE POINT OF ALL OF THIS, I THINK THAT REPRESENTATIVE RASKIN WANTS TO UNDERSCORE, THIS IS A COURT COMPLETELY UNBOUND BY ANY OF THE ETHICAL GUARDRAILS THAT WOULD BIND ANY OTHER COURT. IT'S A COURT THAT BY ITS OWN ESTIMATION DECIDED TO SUBSCRIBE TO A CODE OF ETHICS THAT ACTUALLY WEAKENED THE KINDS OF GUARDRAILS FOR ETHICAL QUANDARIES THAT WE SAW. WE SAID THIS WAS A CODE THAT WAS TOOTHLESS AND LEFT IT TO THE JUSTICES TO DECIDE WHEN THEY WERE OUT OF BOUNDS AND WHEN THEY WEREN'T. REPRESENTATIVE RASKIN IS UNDERSCORING THE POINT, THE COURT IS HIGH ON ITS OWN SUPPLY AND DOING WHAT IT WANTS, AND THERE ARE NO EFFECTIVE GUARDRAILS HERE, NO EFFECTIVE CHECKS ON THIS COURT, AND WE HAVE A REAL PROBLEM IN TERMS OF SEPARATION OF POWERS. >> WHAT WOULD BE STOPPING THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND THE SOLICITOR GENERAL AND THE SPECIAL COUNSEL FROM TAKING THE STEP, GIVEN HOW EXTRAORDINARY THE CIRCUMSTANCES ARE, AND GIVEN THAT THE FLAGS, BOTH OF WHICH HAVE, YOU KNOW, A CONNECTION TO THE STOP THE STEAL MOVEMENT, A CONNECTION TO DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTERS WHO BELIEVE THE ELECTION OR WANT TO SAY THE ELECTION WAS STOLEN. GIVEN THE EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES IN FRONT OF THE SUPREME COURT AND THE SIGNIFICANCE AND THE IMPACT IT COULD HAVE ON NOVEMBER AND THE FUTURE, WHY WOULD THEY NOT MAKE THIS MOVE? >> YOU KNOW WHY, KATY. IT WOULD BE SEEN AS INCREDIBLY POLITICAL AND POLITICALLY MINDED. WE LIVE RIGHT NOW IN A TIME OF INCREASING AND EXTREME POLITICAL POLARIZATION. ANY STEP LIKE THIS WOULD BE VIEWED AS A STEP TOWARD PERSECUTING DONALD TRUMP, AS IT WERE. WHEN I SAID THIS WAS A HAIL MARY PASS, IT'S BECAUSE WE LIVE IN A POLITICAL CLIMATE WHERE THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE AT THIS POINT IN TIME. TYPICALLY WHEN YOU HAVE HAD CALLS FOR JUSTICES TO RECUSE THEMSELVES OR STEP DOWN IN OUR PAST, THEY HAVE BEEN BIPARTISAN, BUT WE ARE SO DIVIDED IN TERMS OF WHAT EACH SIDE THINKS IS APPROPRIATE AND RIGHT THAT WE CAN'T REALLY GET TO A CONSENSUS FOR THAT KIND OF BIPARTISANSHIP THAT HAS TYPICALLY MARKED THESE KINDS OF EFFORTS IN THE PAST. YES, THERE'S DEFINITELY LAW ON THE SIDE THAT REPRESENTATIVE RASKIN IS TALKING ABOUT HERE. BUT IT'S UNLIKELY TO BE ACTUALLY DEPLOYED IN THIS CIRCUMSTANCE. >> YOU CLERKED FOR JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR, DO YOU HAVE A SENSE OF WHERE HER HEAD MIGHT BE AT, AND WHY THE OTHER JUSTICES OR WOULD THEY WANT TO GET INVOLVED? I KNOW CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS DECLINED AN INVITATION TO MEET ABOUT IT WITH DICK DURBIN AND SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, DO YOU THINK BEHIND THE SCENES, THE JUSTICES HAVE TRIED TO HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT THIS? >> I THINK THEY ARE VERY CLOSE TO ONE ANOTHER. I'M SURE THIS HAS BEEN BROACHED IN A PARTICULAR WAY. THIS IS AN UNUSUAL WORK REQUIREMENT, WHERE YOU ARE WITH THESE EIGHT PEOPLE FOR LIFE. YOU HAVE TO MAINTAIN A MODCOME OF A RELATIONSHIP. I THINK THERE ISN'T A LOT OF PUSHING THAT CAN BE DONE, AND CERTAINLY NOT IN A CIRCUMSTANCE LIKE THIS WHERE JUSTICE ALITO, AND JUSTICE THOMAS ARE THE ANCHORS OF A 6-3 CONSERVATIVE SUPERMAJORITY THAT REALLY DOESN'T NEED TO CURRY FAVOR WITH THE OTHER SIDE. THEY CAN DO WHAT THEY WANT. THEY HAVE THE NUMBERS AND THEY ARE DOING WHAT THEY WANT. AND THAT MEANS THAT RIGHT NOW, IN A SITUATION THAT NO OTHER JUSTICE COULD BE IN, CERTAINLY NOT JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR. CERTAINLY NOT JUSTICE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, THE IDEA OF THEM FLYING THE FLAGS OVER THEIR HOMES WITHOUT INCIDENT IS PREPOSTEROUS. FOR JUSTICE ALITO, AN
