In his more than six years in the White House, Obama has to an unusual degree — for a serving president — offered strong opinions on how the court’s justices should decide cases central to his legacy. In a few instances, those pointed opinions have sounded a lot like outright criticism.

Obama’s willingness to plunge into the court’s business reflects his background as a constitutional law lecturer, his irritation with the legal and political wrangling surrounding the landmark health-care law and his view of the court’s role in American society.

“There’s a view that liberals love the courts as the last bastion” for defending the rights of the powerless and underprivileged, said David Strauss, a law professor at the University of Chicago. “He’s never bought into that stuff. He believes that the courts are fine, but that politics should run the country.”