'Stench' of Politics

The U.S. Supreme Court is as important as ever in the lives of Americans. Contrary to the image-enhancing claims of independence that many of its members claim, however, the Court's current supermajority has transformed it into a powerful political institution that wages ideological war meant to return the nation to a previous period, at the same time denying rights to millions. The ';Stench' of Politics: Polarization and Worldview on the Supreme Court opens a window into the Supreme Court that helps us to understand the institution and its rulings.At the heart of this analysis is worldview, a phenomenon that every person, including Supreme Court justices, possesses. Whether someone's worldview is ';fixed' or ';fluid' affects who they are, what they believe and what they do. In addition, interpreting the Constitution as an ';originalist' or ';living constitutionalist' often dictates case outcomes. By applying these and other constructs to the Supreme Court, the book reveals how the once-revered institution has evolved into one whose majority not only has neglected its commitment to the inscription on its own building, ';Equal Justice Under Law,' but is also determined to remake both the law and the nation.