How the Supreme Court claimed supreme power
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is Ira Glass. On This American Life, one thing we like is a good mystery. Sometimes about really big things, but most times, the little mysteries are the best.
Our lost and found is currently filled with pants. I don't know, I've never seen this happen.
Wait, this is true?
This is true. Mysteries of every size, each week. This American Life, wherever you get your podcasts.
Hey, it's Rund. As the clock ticks down to the close of the Supreme Court's 2025-2026 term, and we await the justices to hand down nearly two dozen more rulings by early July, the most anticipated of which involve birthright citizenship, the counting of mail-in ballots, the president's power to remove any official, and state bans on female transgender athletes. We thought it would be helpful to share a ThruLine episode from our archives that tells the story of the Supreme Court, how it evolved from the weakest branch of government to the powerhouse arbiter it is today.
There it is with the 2-0 pitch.
And this ball smashed high and deep to center field.
It is won!
When I was growing up, I remember my dad having this strange love of baseball.
He was new to this country. Everything about it was foreign to him. different food, different languages, different politics. But baseball? That made sense.
There's a drive to right center field by Piazza. His first major league hit. He'll go into second.
He didn't know all the rules necessarily, but he got the basic gist of it.
What significant cases are expected in the Supreme Court's 2025-26 term?
One person throws the ball, the other tries to hit it. And the person behind the plate, behind the catcher, the person calling the strikes are balls. Two balls and a strike. That's the umpire. The arbiter of justice. What he says goes. No questions asked. Well, most of the time. But even when people don't like the ump's call, they have to live with it or get thrown out.
That's just the way the game was set up.
But this isn't an episode about baseball.
Justice Ginsburg, will you raise your right hand and repeat after me?
This is an episode about the Supreme Court.
I, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Which some people like to think of as America's umpire.
Judges are like umpires.
calling the shots for the country, no questions asked, right?
The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has forced abortion rights advocates to face their biggest fear.
And this is just one of several hot button issues like healthcare and voting rights that could now be transformed for decades to come.
The president vowed to go to the Supreme Court to dispute the election count. The court has the power of life and death.
The more the court expands into every area of American society, the bigger ticket item it becomes.
Because of this kind of power, the leanings of a new and ninth justice are so crucial.
You're listening to ThruLine from NPR. Where we go back in time to understand the present.
The Supreme Court as America's umpire may not be a perfect metaphor, but it gets at a really important point. Nowadays, the Supreme Court has the final say over so much of our lives, which hasn't always been the case. For most of our history, people thought of the Supreme Court as like the coach, with some say over the flow of the game, but definitely not the final say. Okay, we're going to stop with the baseball metaphors now. There's no such thing as too many baseball metaphors. Anyway, in the beginning, back in 1787, when the framers of the Constitution were designing how this federal government would work, you know, three branches, checks and balances, the way they saw things, the president controlled the army, Congress controlled the money, and the courts, the judiciary...
Well, as Alexander Hamilton put it, The judiciary, on the contrary, has no influence over either the sword or the purse, no direction either of the strength or of the wealth of the society, and can take no active resolution whatever. In other words, without the sword or purse, the Supreme Court didn't have much power to enforce its decisions, making it the least dangerous and least powerful branch.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:00
2
What significant cases are expected in the Supreme Court's 2025-26 term?
2:00–6:53
3
How did the Supreme Court evolve from the weakest to the most powerful branch of government?
6:53–14:36
4
What was the role of Chief Justice John Marshall in shaping the Supreme Court?
14:36–25:21
5
How did the Dred Scott case impact the perception of the Supreme Court?
25:21–35:45
6
What were the consequences of the Supreme Court's decisions during the New Deal era?
35:45–44:55
7
How did the Warren Court change the landscape of civil rights in America?
44:55–56:11
8
What was the significance of the Supreme Court's ruling in Roe v. Wade?
56:11–57:57