Assignment task:
"Legitimacy is a complex and puzzling concept. But in legal discourse, we have an intuitive sense that illegitimate means something more than erroneous or incorrect. The term signifies something absolutely without foundation and perhaps ultra vires. So, when a government institution or organization lacks legitimacy, it may no longer be worthy of respect or obedience.
Given this intuition, it is striking how many commentators - including prominent constitutional scholars, a former Attorney General, and current members of Congress - have recently questioned the legitimacy of the United States Supreme Court. Indeed, some critics suggest that the situation is so bad as to warrant extreme measures: it may be time to rethink life tenure, take away broad swaths of federal jurisdiction, impeach Justices, disobey Supreme Court decisions, or - most commonly - "pack" the Court with additional members.
For those who study the federal judiciary, this onslaught is jarring. Although the Supreme Court has been subject to attacks in the past, recent decades have been a period of relative calm. Indeed, many court curbing measures - including court packing and disobeying court orders - have been off the table since the mid-twentieth century.
To understand the tension between sociological and legal legitimacy, we need a better grasp of the former. Why does the Supreme Court's external legitimacy even matter? Political scientists agree: The judiciary has no army; it must rely on others to obey its decrees. Government officials and the general public are more likely to comply if they view the Court as "legitimate" - that is, as an institution that does and should have the power to affect legal rights and obligations. It is particularly crucial that those who disagree with a given decision view the Court as legitimate; such disappointed individuals will respect the adverse ruling if they view the institution itself as authoritative. Thus, political scientists have a refrain: "Legitimacy is for losers.""
Source: Tara Leigh Grove, "The Supreme Court's Legitimacy Dilemma," Harvard Law Review, 2019
Q1. Describe evidence that today's Supreme Court has a legitimacy problem, according to this scenario?
Q2. In the context of the scenario, explain how the response in part A can be addressed by the Court.
Q3. In the context of the scenario explain how Congress can respond to the Court's "legitimacy problem".