All presidents have influence over the composition and direction of the federal courts, but Donald Trump left a deep conservative mark on the federal judiciary despite only serving a single term of office, with 3 appointments to the Supreme Court, 54 to the Circuit Courts of Appeal, and 174 to the nation’s District Courts.
Each title in the Contemporary Debates series examines the veracity of controversial claims or beliefs surrounding a major political/cultural issue in the United States. Each book gives readers a clear and unbiased understanding of current high-interest issues by informing them about falsehoods, half-truths, and misconceptions—and confirming the factual validity of other assertions—that have gained traction in America’s cultural and political discourse.
This volume in the series provides a deeply researched and evenhanded account of the relationship between America’s judicial branch—which is supposed to view law through a nonpartisan lens—and the sometimes poisonous partisanship in the nation’s other two branches of government. Is political combat over judicial nominations worse than ever before? What impact is the politicization of the courts having on public faith in the legitimacy of the courts and our wider political system? Was former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day right when she asserted that “judicial independence is a bedrock principle of our court system, and we are losing it”? This work will provide insights into all these questions and more.
