I really hate the state of the Supreme Court atm. Looking back, it wasn’t a legitimate institution from the beginning, but the current 6-3 court shows how flawed it is, being out of line with public opinion in loads of different cases and effectively legislating from the bench via judicial review.
The only reason it has gotten this bad, though, is because Congress has abdicated its responsibilities as a legislative body and left it more and more to executive orders and court decisions. The entire debate around the Dobbs decision could have been avoided if Dems codified abortion into law, and this one could have avoided too if our Congress actually went to work legislating a solution to the ongoing student loan and college affordability crisis.
I think we need supreme court reform. I’m particularly partial to the idea of having a rotating bench pulled randomly from the lower courts each term, with each party in Congress getting a certain amount of strike outs to take people off that they don’t want, similar to the way jurors are selected. I also think the people should be able to overrule the court via referendum, because ultimately we should decide what the constitution says.
I just can’t see this happening though, at least for multiple decades until the younger people today get into political power.
We would probably have a better Supreme Court even if we had arbitrary requirements that make little sense but would be a better alternative to what we have now. For instance:
All Justices must have the name Horatio (either a given name or by name change). No last names.
Twenty years of experience required in horticulture, which because of the forementioned name change, is more like horatioculture.
Must have read at least 3000 books of any type.
Can juggle an arbitrary amount of oranges on demand.
Has combat experience in either blunt or bladed weaponry in the event of a zombie apocalypse, with a skill level scaled to their age. Alternatively, skilled in the occult and necromancy (to turn the undead).
Can create rhythmic song related to the laws being discussed in the event of spontaneous musicals.
I also think the people should be able to overrule the court via referendum
The court arguably has the responsibility of protecting minorities from the majority-elected government. Allowing the public to vote on court rulings, especially in combination with Congress doing a jury-style selection of justices, would just further politicize the court and erode minority rights.
I really hate the state of the Supreme Court atm. Looking back, it wasn’t a legitimate institution from the beginning, but the current 6-3 court shows how flawed it is, being out of line with public opinion in loads of different cases and effectively legislating from the bench via judicial review.
The only reason it has gotten this bad, though, is because Congress has abdicated its responsibilities as a legislative body and left it more and more to executive orders and court decisions. The entire debate around the Dobbs decision could have been avoided if Dems codified abortion into law, and this one could have avoided too if our Congress actually went to work legislating a solution to the ongoing student loan and college affordability crisis.
I think we need supreme court reform. I’m particularly partial to the idea of having a rotating bench pulled randomly from the lower courts each term, with each party in Congress getting a certain amount of strike outs to take people off that they don’t want, similar to the way jurors are selected. I also think the people should be able to overrule the court via referendum, because ultimately we should decide what the constitution says.
I just can’t see this happening though, at least for multiple decades until the younger people today get into political power.
We would probably have a better Supreme Court even if we had arbitrary requirements that make little sense but would be a better alternative to what we have now. For instance:
All Justices must have the name Horatio (either a given name or by name change). No last names.
Twenty years of experience required in horticulture, which because of the forementioned name change, is more like horatioculture.
Must have read at least 3000 books of any type.
Can juggle an arbitrary amount of oranges on demand.
Has combat experience in either blunt or bladed weaponry in the event of a zombie apocalypse, with a skill level scaled to their age. Alternatively, skilled in the occult and necromancy (to turn the undead).
Can create rhythmic song related to the laws being discussed in the event of spontaneous musicals.
The court arguably has the responsibility of protecting minorities from the majority-elected government. Allowing the public to vote on court rulings, especially in combination with Congress doing a jury-style selection of justices, would just further politicize the court and erode minority rights.