I am wanting to understand more about at what point(s) the Supreme Court became so polarized/partisan/divisive. I’m assuming this probably happened during the Reagan era (my childhood) but maybe it was earlier? Surely, the Supreme Court was not always this way. How did we get to the point where Republicans refused to let Obama appoint a Supreme Court justice nominee, not letting Merrick Garland even get a confirmation hearing, because it was too close to elections? Yet they rushed to get Amy Coney Barrett on the bench immediately after Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death even though it was nine days before elections? Or the way they tried to drag Ketanji Brown Jackson through the mud, not because she was unqualified or incapable, but because she was black and female. Like, shouldn’t we want the most qualified people on this court? Why would we try to belittle them?

I would also like to understand more about the history of Roe v Wade. Any suggested articles, books, audiobooks esp, are appreciated. The landmark court decision happened shortly before my birth so it is one of those things I have taken for granted as “always having existed.” In history classes in school, we learn about women getting the right to vote and the civil rights movement in this self congratulatory way as a country. Like, “Yay! We did it!” But what they don’t teach us is that these hard won rights can be stripped and legislated away. I suppose Roe v Wade and a woman’s right to choose has probably been in danger since the ruling first happened. But how did it come under so much fire under the last ten or twenty years? I want to learn more about these topics. It is well past time.

Thank you for your insights and assistance.