We have successfully avoided since 1793 the disaster that befell France, because we have not accepted any method to determine the "general will" except the election of our representatives and latterly our senators.
Now, Anthony Kennedy and the rest of the Committee of Public Safety can discern the will of the people by consulting "references" to an "emerging awareness".
As I posted before, this is very bad, and it is bad irregardless of the result.
I think it's code for, "You've all been overruled by the Fourth Estate." The quote is a direct reference to the media campaign against morality.