The “Stench” of Politics

Book excerpt: The U.S. Supreme Court is as important as ever in the lives of Americans. Contrary to the image-enhancing claims of independence that many of its members claim, however, the Court’s current supermajority has transformed it into a powerful political institution that wages ideological war meant to return the nation to a previous period, at the same time denying rights to millions. The “Stench” of Politics: Polarization and Worldview on the Supreme Court opens a window into the Supreme Court that helps us to understand the institution and its rulings. At the heart of this analysis is worldview, a phenomenon that every person, including Supreme Court justices, possesses. Whether someone’s worldview is “fixed” or “fluid” affects who they are, what they believe and what they do. In addition, interpreting the Constitution as an “originalist” or “living constitutionalist” often dictates case outcomes. By applying these and other constructs to the Supreme Court, the book reveals how the once-revered institution has evolved into one whose majority not only has neglected its commitment to the inscription on its own building, “Equal Justice Under Law,” but is also determined to remake both the law and the nation.