A constitutional reform to restore stability and legitimacy
The Supreme Court is structurally broken.
Here's a simple, constitutional fix.
Nine people shouldn't be able to lock in outcomes for decades, or longer.
No party. No purges. No partisan quotas. Just a fairer structure.
THE PROBLEM
What's broken
The entire legal system funnels through one narrow bottleneck: nine justices with life tenure. One retirement can reshape the law for decades. One confirmation becomes a national crisis. A stable majority can dominate outcomes for decades, or indefinitely with strategic retirements.
This isn't because the Constitution requires it. It's because we concentrate too much power in too few hands.
What this system feels like
- Outcomes that feel decided before the case is even heard
- Legal shifts that arrive suddenly and last for generations
- A constant sense that everything depends on who wins next
We already know how to prevent this
In America, we don't trust concentrated power to produce fair outcomes. That's why juries are randomly selected, judges don't choose their cases, and appellate courts use rotating panels.
Not because randomness is perfect—because distribution protects fairness.
At the top of the system, we abandoned that principle.
THE FIX
Rotate the Court
Supreme Court cases should be decided by rotating panels of justices, drawn at random from a larger bench.
Appointments become regular and rule-governed — and overruling precedent requires a higher bar. The Court stays powerful, but it stops being fragile.
This is the opposite of court packing. Even a larger Court can't be used to lock in outcomes when panels rotate.
Instead of the same nine people deciding every case, different groups of justices hear different cases—like every other federal court in America.
The result:
Distribute power.
No small group decides everything, every time.
Stabilize the law.
Outcomes reflect broader judicial judgment over time.
Lower the temperature.
Vacancies stop feeling existential.
Does this make sense?
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