Why do we pretend Supreme Court justices are anything but political officials?

The late Justice Antonin Scalia believed that the federal Constitution allows states to ban abortion, to prohibit consensual sex between two adults in the privacy of their home as well as same-sex marriage, to keep a prestigious state-funded military college exclusively all male, and to start official legislative sessions (and high school graduation ceremonies) with exclusively Christian prayers.

Scalia also believed the Constitution prohibits states (even those with long histories of racially segregated public universities) from considering race as one factor among many in their admissions processes, from enacting most campaign finance reform regulations limiting the spending of money on political campaigns, and from enacting gun control laws.

Justice John Paul Stevens, the last Justice to leave the Court before Scalia, disagreed vehemently with every one of those “interpretations” of the Constitution. Although Stevens never voted on same-sex marriage or exclusively Christian prayers at legislative sessions, he would certainly have disagreed with Scalia on both issues.

Both men were skilled lawyers, jurists, and dedicated public servants. And yet, a country with a Supreme Court of five Justice Scalias would look substantially different than a country with five Justice Stevens.

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/02/why-do-we-pretend-supreme-court-justices-are-anything-but-political-officials/