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They might not be directly elected, but they are political. If they weren't political we wouldn't divide them into liberal and conserative jusices. It seems lik

They might not be directly elected, but they are political. If they weren't political we wouldn't divide them into liberal and conserative jusices. It seems like everyone already knows how they would 'interpret' any case involving abortion. This doesn't seem to be such a problem in other countries. I don't really understand if that's because the judges are purposely appointed to be as partisan as possible, or whether the 'rules' are so badly written that they can be interpreted any way you like.

xxpor 6y ago
>whether the 'rules' are so badly written that they can be interpreted any way you like. It's a philosophical difference in legal systems derived from the Napoleonic code (and more indirectly the Roman legal system, so it's common in continental Europe) vs. the English legal system (the US, Canada, India, Australia, etc) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law#Common_law_legal_systems_as_opposed_to_civil_law_legal_systems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law#Common_law_legal_sy...
mamon 6y ago
That isn't as big problem as you paint it. Yes, Trump was particularily "lucky" (for the lack of the better word) that during his single term in the office 3 Supreme Justices died, so he could appoint replacements. But Obama, George W. Bush, Clinton, George Bush senior, they each appointed 2 Justices. So it seems to me that the system is deliberately designed to capture long-term political trends - Democratic presidents appoint democratic judges, Repliblicans appoint Republicans, and the net result is: Supreme Court reflects society's deeply ingrained values, not its current mood.
- travisjungroth 6y ago
  Trump appointed 50% more judges in half the time. So, triple the rate. And to your second point, the popular vote went Democratic in the last 7 of 9 elections (and electoral in 5 of 9) but 3 of 9 Supreme Court Justices are Democrat appointed. The court does not reflect our deeply ingrained values.

xxpor 6y ago

>whether the 'rules' are so badly written that they can be interpreted any way you like. It's a philosophical difference in legal systems derived from the Napoleonic code (and more indirectly the Roman legal system, so it's common in continental Europe) vs. the English legal system (the US, Canada, India, Australia, etc) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law#Common_law_legal_systems_as_opposed_to_civil_law_legal_systems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law#Common_law_legal_sy...

mamon 6y ago

That isn't as big problem as you paint it. Yes, Trump was particularily "lucky" (for the lack of the better word) that during his single term in the office 3 Supreme Justices died, so he could appoint replacements. But Obama, George W. Bush, Clinton, George Bush senior, they each appointed 2 Justices. So it seems to me that the system is deliberately designed to capture long-term political trends - Democratic presidents appoint democratic judges, Repliblicans appoint Republicans, and the net result is: Supreme Court reflects society's deeply ingrained values, not its current mood.

travisjungroth 6y ago
Trump appointed 50% more judges in half the time. So, triple the rate. And to your second point, the popular vote went Democratic in the last 7 of 9 elections (and electoral in 5 of 9) but 3 of 9 Supreme Court Justices are Democrat appointed. The court does not reflect our deeply ingrained values.