'The Most Dangerous Branch' portrays the Supreme Court as a threat to democracy

Confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh have begun this week in the US Senate. Kavanaugh is expected to be appointed to the Supreme Court on the basis of a Republican majority supporting a conservative-minded judge. His résumé includes the requisite Ivy League education (Yale) and a track record on the bench as part of the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Kavanaugh is unlikely to say much of substance, following a playbook established by both liberal and conservative nominees in the 31 years since US Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and his fellow Democrats in the majority rejected Reagan, former Newsweek legal affairs editor David A. Kaplan makes a strong and compelling case that, whatever the outcome, one thing is guaranteed: The Supreme Court is all but certain to remain over-involved in setting and amending policy and laws.