Supreme Court Legitimacy and Decision-Making

Judicial Review and Legitimacy

• Judicial review and life tenure of judges can lead to questions about the court's legitimacy.

Precedents and Stare Decisis

• The court relies on precedents, guided by the principle of $stare decisis$ (let the decision stand).
• Precedents are past cases that have interpreted a clause of the constitution or a law.
• Precedents can be overturned, but it is uncommon.
• Example: $Plessy v. Ferguson$ overturned by $Brown v. Board of Education$.

Ideological Changes and Court Decisions

• Presidents appoint judges aligned with their political ideologies, influencing court decisions.
• Controversial Supreme Court decisions can lead to societal questioning of the court’s legitimacy.
• Example: $Roe v. Wade$ (1973) led to backlash due to legalizing abortion nationwide.
• Example: $Dobbs v. Jackson$ (2022) returned authority to states, sparking criticism from liberal states.

Judicial Postures

• Judicial Activism: The court establishes policy, considering the broad effects of a decision.
• Judicial Restraint: Judges believe policy-making should be done by the elected legislature; laws should only be struck down if they violate the explicit text of the Constitution.
• Debates often arise regarding the court's legitimacy based on which posture they adopt.