Trust in US Supreme Court at an all-time low
While the first votes of the American elections are being counted, PhD candidate Tessa van Buchem appeared as a guest on Radio 1. During the radio broadcast, she discussed the US Supreme Court: ‘The judges are seen as politicians in gowns.’
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest federal court in the American legal system. Tessa van Buchem, who conducts research into the court’s legitimacy, feels it is mainly the court’s involvement in major social issues that makes it such a fascinating research topic. ‘Often, the composition of the Supreme Court determines which direction it takes and whether certain rights are extended or restricted,’ the PhD candidate explains. ‘The judges are really seen as politicians in gowns.’
In that sense, the US legal system differs greatly from the Dutch legal system: ‘In the Netherlands, judges are not allowed to review laws in a formal sense against the Constitution. In America, they are allowed to do this and they also have the final say on it.’ According to the PhD candidate, this results in the judiciary being seen as ‘an extension of the democratic process’. But this does have consequences, with trust in the US Supreme Court now at an all-time low: ‘What it increasingly boils down to is that, to the public, the Supreme Court seems to be biased.’
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Watch the full Radio 1 clip here (in Dutch)
Photo: Tim Mossholder through Unsplash