The recent Supreme Court decision to allow municipalities to take private property to allow economic growth is probably going to give Justice Souter, who sided with the majority in making the decision a headache, because he's likely to lose the family home. Because the NH town he lives in is probably going to allow it to be turned into a hotel. Oooops. David Broder, writing about the Roberts nomination makes a point that goes to this very subject...does Souter possess the requisite awareness of decisions like Kelo and how they will actually affect people, not just as an abstract decision made in the hermetically-sealed chamber that is the Supreme Court?

Does Roberts have the wherewithal to understand the concern of Americans who will be affected by his decisions in their daily lives perhaps forever? Or is the rendering of any decision just an academic excercise taken to a different degree?

It's worth knowing when the senate begins questioning Justice French Fry whether his work as an Attorney for Toyota in the Carpal Tunnel case left him with a clear understanding of stakes for a woman who claimed an injury and might not be able to work again, courts and lawyers notwithstanding. Or the feelings of a 12 year-old girl shackled and dragged away for consuming a single french fry, when a citation might have sufficed.

I'm pretty sure Souter will soon be getting an education from the school of hard knocks...will his fellow justices learn from his lessons?