Hiding Judicial Power in Plain Sight

Nat Hentoff has an interesting article about the so-called "hidden" power of the Supreme Court. [link] He argues that given how much influence the nine justices wield over American life, it's remarkable -- and dangerous -- that the institution so limits public scrutiny and that the justices operate in relative anonymity (Hentoff reports that Harry Blackmun, the author of Roe v. Wade, sometimes took perverse delight in standing anonymously on the fringes of anti-abortion rallies outside the court, as protesters called for his impeachment).

The sub-head of Hentoff's article contains a challenge that hints at the core of the problem: public indifference. The subhead asks: how many Supreme Court justices can you name? According to a National Law Journal survey in 1990, 59% of Americans couldn't name a single justice. [True confessions: In two tries, I could only remember eight out of nine, even though I recognized the name of the ninth when I looked it up. But then, I'm a lawyer, so I'm sure I'm not representative, since I was, at least in theory, exposed to the names of all nine during law school.]

Hentoff blames this indifference on the Court itself, for failing to open itself and its deliberative process to the public by, among other things, permitting television in the Court and releasing transcripts that indicate who is questioning the litigants (currently, the transcripts don't indicate which Justice is the questioner). He also faults the media for failing to educate the public by reporting more consistently and prominently on what the Court does and how it does it.

Interesting food for thought.

[And now, a trivia question: Only five US presidents have not put a Justice on the Supreme Court. Who are they? (answer is in the comments section)]