I am discussing the general tendency of the public to respect and to follow judicial decisions, a habit developed over the course of American history. Were it not the case, courts that the public tended to ignore would not see their interpretations of law applied generally, as they are in our system. Parties who disagree with a particular decision, focusing upon its particular stakes, might be unperturbed by such a situation. But what, then, would have happened to all those Americans who espoused unpopular political beliefs, to those who practiced or advocated minority religions, to those who argued for an end to legal segregation in the South? What would have happened to criminal defendants unable to afford a lawyer, to those whose houses government officials wished to search without probable cause, to those whose property government wished to seize with little or no compensation? . . . The rule of law is not a meal that can be ordered à la carte. Let my examples warn against taking public acceptance of the Court’s authority for granted.