Originally Posted by raveneye

Sort of on topic: there have been many published studies showing that the Supreme Court decisions are very significantly influenced by the contemporary political climate. When congress is dominated by conservatives, the SC decisions tend to be conservative, and vice-versa.

The SC justices are not really "unbiased interpreters of the Constitution;" they are very susceptible to the direction the political winds are blowing.

This is why attempts to stack the court, like FDRs and the current Republicans in power, don't really achieve the level of consistent results that are hoped for.