There's so much happening in politics right now, so red wine and blue is here to ask,

okay, but why?

We still cling to the idea of the Supreme Court as a body separate and apart from politics.

It retains a certain amount of mystique and ceremony.

We literally put the justices on a pedestal

and let they wear robes like wizards.

In their confirmation hearings, they pretend to have no idea

how they'll rule on hot-button issues

and we all have to pretend to believe them

before we appoint them to a job that they can hold until they die.

We don't treat them like what they are,

which is people who can be motivated

by ideology and greed like anybody else.

The Supreme Court gets to make decisions that affect our most fundamental rights. When it

ruled on Roe v. Wade in 1973, and then overturned that ruling in 2022, they determined our right to access reproductive

care. When it ruled on Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, it created the racist law of separate

but equal. And when it overturned Plessy in 1954, with a ruling on Brown v. Board of Education, public schools

across the country were opened to all students, regardless of race. And in 2015, the ruling

on Obergefell v. Hodges gave same-sex couples the right to marry the person they love.

But how exactly does the Supreme Court work?

Why do nine people have the power to make these incredibly important decisions? And why are some people worried about whether the court right now is making decisions that are bad for democracy?

You may have noticed that all of those cases we mentioned are named with the legal convention of person A versus person B. That's because

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