Justice Gorsuch: Too Few Americans Understand Separation of Powers

Our freedom is in danger because too few Americans understand the concept of separation of powers, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch warned in a Fox News interview Tuesday, in remarks closely resembling points made by a host of the same program a day earlier.

Gorsuch in a rare live interview, invoked founding father James Madison in his example while discussing the issue with Fox News' "Fox and Friends" co-host Ainsley Earhardt. He also discussed his book, "A Republic, If You Can Keep It, while talking about the importance of remaining faithful to the Constitution.

"I worry today when I read that only about a third of Americans can name the three branches of government, and 10% of Americans apparently believe that Judith Sheindlin serves on the United States Supreme Court," Gorsuch told Earhardt. "You know her as Judge Judy. I love Judge Judy, but she's not one of my colleagues."

On Monday, another "Fox and Friends" host, Brian Kilmeade, had brought up the point about Sheindlin during an interview about Florida's decision to restore civics classes in the nation's schools. The "Judge Judy" findings were revealed in a poll in 2015. ​

Madison knew that people "aren't angels," said Gorsuch. "(He) originally thought we didn't need a Bill of Rights...he thought what would really keep us free is the separation of powers." 

He noted that every country has a Bill of Rights, and his personal favorite is North Korea's, as "it promises everything we have, the right to free speech, a right to privacy and my personal favorite especially this time of the year, the right to relaxation."

However, those rights "aren't worth the ink on the page" if all power is concentrated in "one man's hand," said Gorsuch. 

Meanwhile, Gorsuch said that his duty as a justice is to put aside his personal preferences and to discharge his duty and that while he and his fellow justices don't always agree, they do get along. 

"Of course, there are going to be disagreements, but they're not personal disagreements, and it's a wonderful group of people," said Gorsuch, adding that the justices eat lunches together, sometimes will sing Christmas songs and birthday greetings "poorly but enthusiastically," and even play practical jokes on one another. 

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