Can You Reinvent the Supreme Court?

Over the past month, the Senate has rushed to fill Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the Supreme Court. Both Republicans and Democrats have claimed that the other is inappropriately reshaping, or considering reshaping, the Court. But how did the Supreme Court get so caught up in politics? And is there a way out?

David Orentlicher, professor of law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and author of “Two Presidents Are Better Than One: The Case for a Bipartisan Executive Branch,” studies high courts around the world. He says part of the problem is that the U.S. Constitution sets few rules in stone — and that paves the way for partisanship and controversy. But could we do things differently? Absolutely. Indeed, he says there are lots of ideas we could borrow from abroad.