who does the SCOTUS answer to?

[GusFring]

Thomas doesnt even talk. Why the hell does he even have a job?

[LadyHawkAZ]

1. Koch Bros., Walmart, Big Pharma, Halliburton,

JP Morgan Chase, BofA, BP...do I need to fill them all in?

[KansDem]

3. You could just say "ALEC." That should cover it.

Especially since Thomas, Alito, and Scalia have appeared at fund-raisers for corporate interests.

Alito, Thomas Headlined Political Fundraisers Chaired By Leading Right-Wing Donor Paul Singer
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/01/26/140655/alito-thomas-singer/

Group Requests DOJ To Investigate Scalia and Thomas Involvement With Koch Corporate Fundraisers
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/01/20/139866/scalia-thomas-koch-doj/

[Alcibiades]

2. No one

They are utterly unaccountable to anyone. They can be impeached by Congress, but that's it. They're appointed for life and insulated from the outside world. And that's, sadly, the way the framers intended. What wasn't intended was that they would have ultimate authority to undo the political process: that was accomplished by John Marshall in an act of judicial fiat in Marbury v. Madison.

[jberryhill]

5. Mmmm.... a more complete answer....

...is that Congress and the States can amend the Constitution if need be.

Additionally, the Constitution doesn't require nine justices. It can be enlarged and filled with additional justices, as FDR had planned to do.

Nobody in our system really has "the last word" on anything, given the political will to use the process.

[Alcibiades]

12. Of course, that's true

But it's a lot easier to get 5 justices together than it is to line up either of the two processes to amend the constitution. And even then the Supreme Court can twist the consitution in order to abuse these amendments for whatever purposes suit their politics, as in their twisting of the 14th amendment in Bush v. Gore, and their abuse of the 1st Amendment in Citziens United.

Marbury was just wrong, but it was the result of the failure of the framers to really spell out the role of the judiciary in the constitution that led to it. Article III is slapdash compared to Article I. Rather than open another avenue for debate, they left the whole thing really vague, leaving it up to Congress to fill in the blanks.

A reversing a supreme court decision is the hardest thing to do in our system, other than undeclaring an undelcared war initiated by the executive or unexecuting an innocent person.

[get the red out]

4. The American Pantheon

Our residents of Mount Olympus

[RKP5637]

6. It's really out of kilter, today, isn't it. Looking at the size of the country today, and way

back, in reality, a handful of people rule the country despite the fact there are millions more. And many of the ruling class are totally insular from the majority of the citizens. And to join the club you need millions of $$$, usually.

[hifiguy]

7. History. And most of the justices recognize that.

Coincidentally I saw a program about the SCOTUS on C-Span the other night in which all of the justices were interviewed. Roberts, much to my surprise, discussed with considerable insight the Dred Scott case at some length and noted that the Court had best to be careful when dealing with such issues lest it lose its legitimacy. He also talked at some length about what an awful and unnecessary self-inflicted wound Dred Scott was to the Court.

Ironic, given Citizens United, but one thing was clear - Roberts, unlike Thomas, is not a stupid man.

[zbdent]

8. Clarence Thomas's job is to initial where the RW judges tell him to initial.

and then collect the papers and go get the tea ...

[totodeinhere]

9. There is no requirement that justices talk during court sessions.

Of course the reason he doesn't talk is because he would expose his stupidity. For his written opinions he can have his law clerks cover for him. But remember that the Democrats controlled the Senate when he was confirmed.

[eShirl]

10. Their reflexion in the mirror.

[asjr]

11. I would say God but Scalia and Thomas have Him

tied up in a closet off the beaten path.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. Do you want the poli sci theory

Or the reality?

In theory, the law

In reality, it is the most right wing court since the early 1930s.