How to counter tribalism like we do: as friends, and as Americans

Federal judges rarely write newspaper op-eds. Rarer still: a joint op-ed by two assumed foes. In this era of poisonous tribalism, what could these two judges agree on?

After all, one is an African American female Obama appointee, the other a White male Trump appointee.

For starters, we’re friends. More, we respect each other as judicial siblings committed to a shared oath; our robes are black, not red or blue. In this coarse and graceless age, believing that our similarities eclipse our differences might be derided as Pollyannish. So be it. …

This Constitution Day, if any identity should define us as Americans, let it be one that transcends ideological and demographic differences: Our common identity as heirs to a rich civic inheritance.