- Question
Should the supreme court justices be apolitical?
Should Supreme Court justices stand above politics? This entry sets out the two positions on the question — that justices should remain apolitical, and that they need not — turning on the nature of constitutional judging.
Yes, they should remain apolitical
This position holds that Supreme Court justices should remain apolitical. It argues the Constitution's framers, reacting against a Crown-controlled judiciary, deliberately built an independent, impartial court — and that fidelity to that intent requires justices to stay above partisan politics.
No, they need not remain apolitical
This position holds that Supreme Court justices need not be apolitical. It argues that constitutional interpretation inevitably requires value-laden choices — about rights, liberty and power — so demanding that justices be wholly apolitical asks something the job itself makes impossible.