NAMEDONEOFTHEBESTBOOKSOF2021:POLITICSBYTHEWALLSTREETJOURNAL“Amust-readforanyoneinterestedintheSupremeCourt.“--MIKELEE,RepublicansenatorfromUtahPoliticshavealwaysintrudedonSupremeCourtappointments.ButalthoughtheFramerswouldrecognizethewayjusticesarenominatedandconfirmedtoday,somethingisdifferent.Whyhaveappointmentstothehighcourtbecomeoneofthemostexplosivefeaturesofoursystemofgovernment?AsIlyaShapiromakesclearinSupremeDisorder,thisproblemispartofalargerphenomenon.Asgovernmenthasgrown,itslawsreachingevenfurtherintoourlives,thecourtsthatinterpretthoselawshavebecomeenormouslypowerful.Ifwefightovereachnewappointmentasthougheverythingwereatstake,it’sbecauseitis.Whendecadesofconstitutionalcorruptionhaveleftussubjecttoanall-powerfultribunal,passionsaresuretoflareontheinfrequentoccasionswhenthepoliticalsystemhasanopportunitytoshapeit.Andsowefindtheprocessofjudicialappointmentsvergingondysfunction.Shapiroweighsthemanyproposalsforreform,fromthemodest(termlimits)totheradical(court-packing),butshowsthattherecanbenoquickfixforajudicialsystemsufferingacrisisoflegitimacy.Andintheend,theonlymeasureoftheCourt’slegitimacythatmattersistheextenttowhichitmaintains,orrebalances,ourconstitutionalorder.
