What SC JUSTICE said BOYS WILL BE BOYS
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Executive summary
No document in the supplied reporting records a current Supreme Court justice plainly uttering the phrase “boys will be boys”; instead the phrase appears in analyses of the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation, academic critiques of the expression, dictionary definition, and unrelated South Carolina school-bathroom disputes that use similar language about “a boy” and bathrooms (see PBS, Merriam‑Webster, People’s World, and multiple South Carolina news pieces) [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. What the sources actually show about “boys will be boys” and the Kavanaugh debate
Coverage cited here treats “boys will be boys” as a cultural excuse invoked around allegations against Brett Kavanaugh but does not supply a verbatim quote from any Supreme Court justice saying those exact words; PBS frames the phrase as an “unscientific excuse for assault” in the context of Kavanaugh-era reporting and science about adolescent behavior, and commentary pieces use the slogan to critique perceived double standards during that confirmation fight [1] [3].
2. How journalists and scholars use the phrase — definition and critique
Merriam‑Webster captures the phrase as shorthand for excusing rough or improper male behavior, which is exactly how the PBS and Psychology Today pieces deploy it to argue that the expression normalizes misconduct and reduces accountability; academic and psychology reporting cited here argues the line flattens complex social, developmental and racial dynamics into an excuse, and warns the phrase perpetuates gender stereotypes that can allow harm to persist [2] [5].
3. The record about a Supreme Court justice saying it — what the reporting does and does not contain
None of the supplied items provides a primary-source statement from a sitting Supreme Court justice — nor an attributed transcript excerpt — in which a justice utters “boys will be boys”; instead the phrase appears as part of opinion pieces, legal commentary and historical recollection about the Kavanaugh allegations and as cultural analysis of how society explains male misconduct, so asserting a justice said it would exceed what these sources document [1] [3] [6].
4. Related but separate uses: state bathroom language and the literal phrase ‘a boy will use the boys’ bathroom’
Several South Carolina local and national outlets report on legislative and judicial disputes over transgender students’ restroom access that repeatedly quote policy language or summaries such as “a boy will use the boys’ bathroom” — phrasing that is legislative and administrative, not the same as the idiom “boys will be boys,” though both use "boy/boys" language and have been linked in public debate; appellate and Supreme Court orders in 2025 upheld a transgender student’s temporary right to use the boys’ restroom while litigation proceeds, and state budget language conditioning funding on compliance has been widely reported [4] [7] [8].
5. Bottom line and journalistic caution
Reporting available here ties the idiom “boys will be boys” to cultural defense of misconduct (as critics used it in the Kavanaugh context) and documents judicial and legislative fights over who is a “boy” in restroom rules, but does not establish that any Supreme Court justice literally said the phrase; therefore the most accurate statement, grounded in the provided sources, is that the phrase has been widely invoked by commentators and critics surrounding Supreme Court controversies and policy fights, not quoted from a justice on the bench [1] [3] [4].