Overview

Have our courts – intended by America’s founders to be an independent arbiter of justice – turned into another political battlefield? Are today’s judges mere “politicians in robes”?

That question is all the more timely with the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September 2020 — weeks before a presidential election. This public radio documentary series looks at how the nomination of judges has become politicized. We consider key flashpoint in recent decades: The bruising nomination hearings for new judges like Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas. The Supreme Court halting an election recount to decide by a one-vote margin who becomes president of the United States. Special interest groups on both sides of the political divide spending millions to influence which judges are selected.

Parts 1 and 2 reconstruct the wild history of how we got into this dilemma, which has left bitter feelings on all sides. What effect does this have on the functioning of our democracy? And, in upcoming episodes, we’ll consider a variety of proposals to reduce the political influence on our courts.

Supported by the Democracy Fund and the Humankind Program Fund, in association with Documentary Educational Resources. Recording engineer: Antonio Oliart Ros. Associate producer: Marc Kilstein. Special thanks to Noel Flatt, Cathy Graham, Steve Martin, Jake Cavicchi, Laura Carlo and Shawn Johnson/Wisconsin Public Radio.