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.

    • @[email protected]
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      10 months ago

      Maybe the supreme Court should be like jury duty. Randomly select from a pool of judges from around the country to fill the position for a certain period of time.

      • @[email protected]
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        210 months ago

        They’d still need to understand the laws, prior decisions and cases, and be able to make a logical argument.

        • @[email protected]
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          410 months ago

          I didn’t mean select random people to be supreme Court justices. I meant select from existing judges to temporarily serve in the supreme Court.

          It’s the only way I can think of to remove as much politics as possible from the SC.