This is the first in an occasional Governing series on the Supreme Court in preparation for nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation process, which enters its next phase on March 21 when she appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee to publicly make her case for why she should win approval to sit on the nation's highest court.

Our resident historian Clay Jenkinson explores three things – court packing, judicial review and meeting the expectations of the appointing presidents – that are not what you thought they were.