Chief Justice John Roberts famously promised to be a modest caller of balls and strikes during his confirmation hearings two decades ago. In their occasional public appearances, Supreme Court justices always insist that the high court doesn’t do politics or policy but simply interprets the Constitution.
Yet on the rare occasions when we get a glimpse behind the court’s closed doors, the discussions over cases sometimes look much more like the grubby negotiations that take place in smoke-filled congressional rooms than high-minded, neutral applications of the law.
