The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of the United States begins its new term today, just after getting a supremely low approval rating from the American public –– 40%. Recently, Justice Amy Coney Barrett asserted that the Court is not just “a bunch of partisan hacks.” Even more recently, Justice Samuel Alito declared that the Court is not “a dangerous cabal.” Such defensiveness! Unfortunately, save for a minority of honorable exceptions, the reverse is true on both counts. American democracy won’t be out of the intensive care unit unless and until the Court is reconstituted as a rational non-doctrinaire decision-making body that places the law above personal ideology.