Think of a criminal court trial. There is a judge, the litigants, their respective lawyers, and a jury. Each has a clearly delineated role for the trial. The judge ensures a fair and neutral trial by enforcing court room procedure, making sure the evidence that is presented is relevant to the trial, and holding the lawyers to the specific facts of the case without bringing in irrelevant or false information.
They lawyers are responsible to the interests of their client, and can question the potential jurors for biases related to the case or the plaintiff or defendant ahead of time. With both lawyers being able to do so, this helps provide for a more neutral jury. Once the jury is seated, they can then present the facts of the case to the jury. And once presented with the facts, the jury will then render a decision. It’s got problems, especially against minorities and poor people, but the framework for a relatively neutral trial is the goal.
But at the level of the Supreme Court, the system does not work that way. The judges get to determine not only how the case will be tried, and which relevant laws or Constitutional issues should be applied, they then get to determine the overall outcome of the trial. They are effectively judge and jury, with lifetime appointments, often serving decades. They can be selected by a very thin majority of senators, who are themselves chosen by a minority of voters. The decisions they render can have devastating consequences on a majority of Americans who then have no recourse beyond the Supreme Court. And unlike the litigants in a criminal trial, the American people have no ability to try to form a neutral panel of jurists.
We clearly need judicial reform, and expansion of the court system, at all levels will likely have to be part of the process. But longer term, structural reform will also have to incorporate how trials are conducted and decided. Reducing the biases upfront, limiting the ability to overturn laws, forcing legislatures and congress to fix vague or outdated language in laws, and giving people some realistic path toward fixing bad decisions all need to be part of the reforms.