Supreme Court

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the power of the Supreme Court in the United States. The paper suggests that the Supreme Court is the final arbiter of constitutionality on just about any issue that is debated among citizens of the United States and it discusses the political and legal problems that have arisen from this situation. It specifically discusses the public outcry regarding activist judges who appear to want to legislate from the bench.

From the Paper:

"The need for judicial reforms, then, is rather obvious. What is less evident, however, is the means through which to accomplish this reform. Some commentators have suggested a constitutional amendment limiting justices to term limits, albeit long ones, to avoid the political maneuvering inherent in the timing of Justices' retirements and nomination; the amendment provides significant equality among administrations to nominate candidates for the Court without placing undue emphasis on when certain Justices retired (as Justice William Douglas attempted to do by waiting to retire until a Democratic president was in office) (DiTullio and Schochet 2004). Other reforms proposed include different nomination processes, a more significant emphasis on qualifications over political affiliation, less outside lobbyist and interest group involvement, and various other tweaks to the process of choosing members of the judiciary (Yoo 2000, 1465)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Comiskey, Michael (2004) Seeking Justices: The Judging of Supreme Court Nominees Lawrence: University of Kansas
• Ditullio, James and John Schochet (2004) "Saving this Honourable Court," 90 Virginia Law Review 1093.
• Segal, Jeffery (1990) "Supreme Court Support for the Solicitor General" Western Political Quarterly 43:1, pp. 137-152.
• Yalof, David Alistair (1999) Pursuit of Justices: presidential politics and the selection of Supreme Court justices. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Yoo, John (2000) "Choosing Justices" Michigan Law review 98:6, pp. 1436-1467.

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