There seems to be a preternatural unwillingness to look at what other countries are doing in the United States,

because this is the way we do it, and we don't have anything to learn from anyone else.

Which is an odd way of thinking about judging, because, I mean, is there really nothing you can learn, including what you don't want to impose in your own court?

Hi, and welcome back to Amicus.

This is Slate's podcast about the courts, the law, the Supreme Court, and sometimes justice.

I'm Dahlia Lithwick. I cover those things for Slate.

Since last we spoke, former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania

before heading to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee and announcing J.D. Vance as his running mate.

Meanwhile, current president Joe Biden said he was absolutely staying in the race, while more and more whispers from more and more senior Democrats suggesting he really should not stay in the race made their way into the ears of national political reporters.

Biden said he would not step down unless God himself told him to or perhaps

doctors told him he has a medical condition. Biden tested positive for COVID on Wednesday.

As we noted earlier in the week, Judge Aline Cannon in Florida tossed the entire criminal case

charging Donald Trump with stealing classified documents. Her theory rested on

doctrinal vapors. This may be the most important blow to the rule of law in America in recent

history, but also J.D. Vance has a beard. Almost lost in this cacophony of headlines and their

companion conspiracy theories came a report on Tuesday evening that at last maybe, perhaps, the Biden administration was considering supporting proposals for major structural Supreme Court reforms, including possibly maybe legislation to create enforceable ethics rules and term limits for the nine sitting justices.

And while the fact that the administration is at long last signaling that it's thinking about closing the stable door,

oh, lo these many years after the horse has bolted and trampled the entire pasture, this may have some air of futility to it.

It is actually an important step

in the direction of shaking off the kind of learned helplessness syndrome about the Supreme Court

that we have talked about so many times on this podcast. As we try to gather ourselves up after a

truly horrendous term, with a docket so overstuffed, it sent decisions careening into July,

...