During this past term, editorial boards, law professors and others have come forward with proposals to curb the court in various ways — changing the guidelines for recusal, for example, or holding justices accountable to the code of conduct.
If the Senate approves Ms. Kagan's nomination and recent tradition holds, Justice Sotomayor, now the junior justice, may have to swallow hard and invite Mr. Met to Washington.
"This court has never held," Justice Scalia wrote, "that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is 'actually' innocent".
Can it be that the conservative legal world is afraid that it can't hold Justice Anthony M. Kennedy to an antimarriage position and so is trying to cut its losses by persuading him that if he takes the federalism route, he can have same-sex marriage (in the nine states that already have it) and states' rights too?
Photos of the march showed demonstrators holding banners saying things like, "My child needs his health," and "Dear Premier, please hold justice for the people in Kunming".
The more the better as long as perceptions and stereotypes that hold justice back are still around.
"I did not hold Justice Scalia's views, but he was a dedicated public servant who brought energy and passion to the bench," she said.
History reveals that the Supreme Court has become the most powerful branch of government and the citizenry – who ordains the Constitution – cannot hold justices accountable for their actions.
Perhaps most famously articulated by US supreme court justice Felix Frankfurter in 1954, it holds that justice alone is not sufficient: "Justice must satisfy the appearance of justice".
