Want to Insulate the Justices from Partisan Politics? Relocate the Supreme Court, Columnist Says
Washington, D.C., is a city where politics predominates.
So why is the U.S. Supreme Court located there? That’s the question posed by a writer for the Atlantic, who says it’s a bad idea to keep the justices in a city where a decision can affect friendships, party invitations, and the reactions of acquaintances.
Los Angeles might be a better place, according to writer Conor Friedersdorf, a resident of Venice, Calif. “The serious argument for Los Angeles is that it’s healthy for an ideally impartial body to be as far away from D.C. as possible, in a town where the local obsessions—entertainment, fitness, and freeways—have nothing to do with its work,” he says.
There is a case to be made for other cities as well, Friedersdorf says. “Maybe we should build a new Supreme Court facility at the base of Mt. Rushmore so the justices can deliberate as presidents of old gaze down upon their chambers,” he suggests.
