Does The Supreme Court Need Reserve Players On The Bench?

A standing-room-only crowd filled the courtroom of Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently when retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor appeared there to help decide three Montana cases. Although it is rare to see a former member of the nation’s highest court fill in on a lower court panel, it is not unusual in the federal court system for judges to substitute for one another. The only court …