SCOTUS has specifically chosen to take appeals that did not need to be determined at the federal level, but did anyway in order to define things at a national level. In the aughts and 2010s, things involving law enforcement, and precinct interpretation of the fourth and fifth amendments to the Constitution of the United States often made an appeal to federal levels and were accepted, as were reproductive rights issues (specifically laws that obstructed abortion access).
That said, if we had a supreme court bench pool of one hundred SCOTUS judges, and each case was heard by a handful of them (six to nine is fine) selected by lottery, that would reduce a lot of the problems. It would be difficult to influence enough to steer the court regarding a specific issue, and even if one president appointed five federalist-society shills, it wouldn’t throw the balance of the court as much as McConnell’s and Leo’s shenanigans have. But that’s only good for the next new nation. This one we just have to acknowledge the federal court system is the most corrupt of the three branches of government. Few will lose sleep when they are put against the wall or convicted in the Hague, down to the last office clerk.
SCOTUS has specifically chosen to take appeals that did not need to be determined at the federal level, but did anyway in order to define things at a national level. In the aughts and 2010s, things involving law enforcement, and precinct interpretation of the fourth and fifth amendments to the Constitution of the United States often made an appeal to federal levels and were accepted, as were reproductive rights issues (specifically laws that obstructed abortion access).
That said, if we had a supreme court bench pool of one hundred SCOTUS judges, and each case was heard by a handful of them (six to nine is fine) selected by lottery, that would reduce a lot of the problems. It would be difficult to influence enough to steer the court regarding a specific issue, and even if one president appointed five federalist-society shills, it wouldn’t throw the balance of the court as much as McConnell’s and Leo’s shenanigans have. But that’s only good for the next new nation. This one we just have to acknowledge the federal court system is the most corrupt of the three branches of government. Few will lose sleep when they are put against the wall or convicted in the Hague, down to the last office clerk.