Topic: In February 2016, President Obamanominated Merrick Garland, Chief Judge o

Topic: In February 2016, President Obamanominated Merrick Garland, Chief Judge of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, to fill the vacancy on the US Supreme Court left by Justice Antonin Scalia’s death. However, Senate Republicans refused to schedule confirmation hearings for Judge Garland, arguing that the nomination should be filled after the presidential election. Making this point, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, said, “The American people shouldn’t be denied a voice. Do we want a court that interprets the law, or do we want a court that acts as an unelected super legislature?”
While Grassley worried that a Democratic controlled Supreme Court will be an “unelected super legislature,” Alexander Hamilton, in Federalist no. 78, argued that the Court “will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution.” 228 years later, is the Court still the least dangerous branch?