Why we need real scrutiny

Emmett Macfarlane considers yesterday’s Supreme Court hearings.

While reform should be crafted to avoid the overt partisanship that infects the American process, any process we do design should acknowledge the political reality that different judges approach their function in different ways. That is where a public hearing can ultimately be useful. It is unfortunate that this second stab at the public interview process wasn’t used to shed light on how judging actually works.

(As a footnote: Team Macleans.ca will be expanding somewhat in the weeks and months ahead with a bevy of new contributors. Emmett, for instance, will be stopping by every so often with thoughts on the Supreme Court. Last month he wrote about the Court’s Insite decision. Equally smart and witty writers on a variety of political issues will soon follow. We’re excited.)