What’s important to understand about the Supreme Court, however, is that it has almost always acted as a malign force in American history — and the brief period from the mid-1950s through the mid-1970s that liberals now look back upon with nostalgia was both an anomaly and the culmination of several historic accidents.
Two other factors also create a significant risk that the Court’s future could look a great deal like the dark moments of its past. The first is that the Republican Party has largely rejected the cries for judicial restraint that dominated its rhetoric during the Nixon, Reagan, and both Bush administrations. And this shift towards conservative judicial activism is being cheered on by powerful elements within the legal profession.
The second factor is that the Court’s membership could change rapidly in just a few years. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg recently celebrated her 82nd birthday, only a few days after Justice Antonin Scalia celebrated his 79th.
