Justice Gorsuch warns that an ‘explosion’ of new laws could hinder Americans’ freedoms

[Music] Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is marking seven years on the bench and speaking out on what he believes is an overabundance of laws and regulations in the US Gorsuch was a trump appointee and was sworn in back in 2017 Justice Gorsuch authored a new book titled overruled the human toll of too much law Shannon spent time with Justice Gorsuch at the nation's highest court this week to discuss the downside he sees in the volume of laws in the this country thank you for making time for us to talk about this new book which having read it I think will be eye- openening to the American people the idea that so much of our conduct is overregulation a day and that's happened in my lifetime 1970 to present we've seen maybe a doubling in the number of federal crimes on the books and that just counts what's in the in the code us code passed by Congress and that's just the tip of the iceburg because federal agencies have been busy too the argument is that we need those things to keep us safe uh to regulate pollution and drugs and all kinds of things so where did we cross the line from valuable Society protecting regulation and laws to something that has blossomed into the situation where we can't even know that we've crossed the line on the one hand we need laws to keep us free and safe on the other hand if you have too many laws you impair those same freedoms and and our aspirations for equality too because who can deal with a world with so much law James Madison said it's going to be the people with money and connections and as a judge now for 18 years I just came to see case after case in which ordinary Americans just trying to live their lives not hurt anybody raise their families were just getting whacked by laws unexpectedly it's not just the laws that are passed but it's also the regulatory stuff that has given rise to critics will say a fourth branch of government I want to read a couple things you have from the book you say many criminal laws are not the direct product of elected representatives accountable to us they're the handiwork of agency officials you go on to say these days federal agencies don't right and enforce legally binding rules often they act as prosecutor and Judge Too the IRS has a hotline if you got questions I mean you don't want to become a federal felon right on your you call them you call them and it turns out for a period of time they were giving wrong answers about a third of the time and then when asked how come so many wrong answers they said well there are the IRS codee's just gotten so complex and there's so many new laws there's been explosion in our laws and it's new and it's different and it's in our lifetimes you say too that there are reasons that have driven us to this some of them big societal changes you say when trust and individual judgment Civic institutions and social norms Fades where is else is there to look for answers but the law you know when Alexis dville came to this country in the 1830s he said that unlike Europe where anything important was undertaken by a British Lord or a French government here it was ordinary Americans coming together in their communities and making a difference and those connections those bonds are essential for democracy right I have to trust you you have to trust me we may disagree that's the whole point of democracy is we vote right that's the engine of democracy it's disagreement but when we when we lose our trust in one another when we lose our trust in ourselves and our own judgment where do we turn we turn to the state we turn to laws we turn sometimes to people very distant from our own homes right federalism gives way to nationalism and instead of nationalism being are laws made in Congress it's often moved over to agencies with less responsiveness to the American people but the book does talk about you know balance of power there are different branches they have different assignments so how does an independent Judiciary operate within some conflicts between the branches the answer is the Constitution and if it's in the Constitution and the other two branches are infringing on it your right to exercise your religion your right to bear arms your right to speak freely I'm Duty bound I took an oath to uphold the Constitution and you win even though the government may not like it when do I stay out when the Constitution doesn't say anything about the subject that's left for We the People to decide in their Democratic processes and that's most things in our daily lives isn't it well you also talk about the issue of individualism which is very American it's very big in this country and how some of that may be sacrificed in giving over to this overregulation we're about to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and you look at the promises in the Declaration and they're so profound right we are all created equal we have inalienable rights they don't come from government they belong to each of us and government derives its just powers from the consent of the Govern We Are The Sovereign of this country We the People those are profound promises and uh we all want those promises to be realized more and more over time and the questions I'm asking through the book really through the stories of of the people to whom it's dedicated how are we doing that's that's kind of our report card that those three promises and the Declaration how are we scoring today that's what it's about so how do we solve the problems in the book well first of all we have to learn how to trust one another right not everything needs to be solved by a distant government sometimes we we should remember what toille talked about working with one another that means listening as well as speaking that means learning how to lose as well as win that means trusting the person with whom you disagree loves this country every bit as much as you do and my good friend Steve Brier says if I listen to almost anyone talk for long enough I'm going to find something they say that we can agree on and maybe we should start there well the book is a collection of fascinating somewhat infuriating stories that I think um real people that we should all know their stories and that it should spark a conversation about where we go from here so best wishes with the book and thank you for your time thank you Shannon I'm Steve duy I'm Brian kilme and I'm Angley aart and click here to subscribe to the Fox News YouTube page to catch our hottest interviews and most compelling analysis