“The fact that I did not have any particular case in mind when I drafted the piece does not reduce the gravity of my lapse,” he said.

Ponsor, who has authored several mystery novels, said that going forward, he would seek advice from a judicial panel before contemplating any public, nonjudicial writing.

No. Double down. Say, “The Supreme Court doesn’t need my help to have its integrity undermound. I meant what I said, and if you’d like to have the American judiciary further undermine itself by removing judges for telling the truth, I’d consider it a great honor and privilege if you would start with me. If not, then take your requests for authoritarian fiction back home, and stop making stupid requests. For the time being, this is America, where we can say what we want to say.”