NCJ Number
129617
Journal
University of Pittsburgh Law Review Volume: 51 Issue: 3 Dated: (Spring 1990) Pages: 673-697
Date Published
1990
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This article argues that under current institutional arrangements, the U.S. Supreme Court is incapable of performing its essential functions at the top of the Federal appellate system; a proposal for change is offered.
Abstract
Under the current institutional structure, the U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to perform a function that no single institution can fulfill any longer. Under current caseload demands, no single national court should be expected to take sole responsibility for the stability, uniformity, and certainty of national law. Reform should create new institutions such as a national court of appeals and some specialized courts of appeals that can share the task now borne solely by the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition to being unable to meet the current caseload, the Court has also failed in its function at a deeper and more fundamental level. The Justices have lost the vision of how to function as a court. They no longer apparently understand that an essential aspect of the Court's professional job is to provide useful and useable law to the law's consumers. Regenerating a collective commitment to this professional ideal will require more than changes in jurisdiction and procedure. It will require changes in the intellectual and professional culture of the Court and in the culture of those who comment on and criticize the Court. 32 footnotes