Justice Neil Gorsuch: Americans are ‘getting whacked’ by too many laws

US supreme court justice Neil Gorsuch has said ordinary Americans are "getting whacked" by too many laws and regulations in a new book that underscores his skepticism of federal agencies and the power they wield.

"Too little law and we're not safe, and our liberties aren't protected," Gorsuch told the Associated Press in an interview in his supreme court office. "But too much law and you actually impair those same things."

Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law is being published Tuesday by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Gorsuch has received a $500,000 advance for the book, according to his annual financial disclosure reports.

In the interview, Gorsuch refused to be drawn into discussions about term limits or an enforceable code of ethics for the justices, both recently proposed by Joe Biden at a time of diminished public trust in the court.

Supreme court justice Elena Kagan, speaking a couple of days before the president's proposal, separately said the court's ethics code, adopted by the justices last November, should have a means of enforcement.

But Gorsuch did talk about the importance of judicial independence. "I'm not saying that there aren't ways to improve what we have. I'm simply saying that we've been given something very special. It's the envy of the world, the United States judiciary," he said.

Gorsuch echoed that stance in an interview Sunday on Fox News, remarking: "I just say: Be careful.