ABSTRACT
The rejection of Robert Bork for a position as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1987 is commonly attributed to his originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. The argument may, more credibly, be made that his rigidity and unwillingness to consider others’ arguments was at the core of that rejection. Character, seen here as a lack of “judicial temperament,” thus tests the sources of legitimate authority for a high court appointment and with it the idea of character as grounds for following another’s commands.
