Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito no doubt intended to shock the political world when he told interviewers for the Wall Street Journal that “No provision in the Constitution gives [Congress] the authority to regulate the Supreme Court — period.”
Many observers dismissed his comment out of hand, noting the express language in Article III, establishing the court’s jurisdiction under “such regulations as the Congress shall make.”
But Alito wasn’t bluffing. His recently issued statement, declining to recuse himself in a controversial case, was issued without a single citation or reference to the controlling federal statute. Nor did he mention or adhere to the test for recusal that other justices have acknowledged in similar circumstances. It was as though he declared himself above the law.
That is my concern. In an ideal world we would have well educated apolitical folks with decades of good faith judicial practice on the supreme Court.
We don’t live in the ide world so judges are political and you are voting for them when you vote for your representatives.
Honestly if we fixed the house and Senate (add Puerto Rico and DC as states, uncapped the house) it might get better in the long term, but doesn’t solve the problem.
The Constitution did not plan on the elected officials being corrupt and unwilling to do “the right things”, so I think it has proven to be fundamentally broken.
I don’t know how to fix it.