Okay, sometimes I’m a bit of a dork. Yes, I said “sometimes.” And sometimes the October Thought might not feel particularly October-y. You get what you pay for.

The first Monday in October is special in our system of government. The first Monday in October is when the Supreme Court convenes.

<<Insert witty Writ of Certiorari joke here.>>

<<Wait. Is there such a thing?>>

The Court is set to hear cases on any number of controversial issues this year. This is not anything new. The Court hears controversial cases every year. We may not always agree with the Court’s decisions but I, for one, am glad she’s there.

The Court is not perfect. She’s made mistakes in the past that took decades to correct. But she’s right more times than she’s not. And more often than that, she’s forgotten: the red-headed stepchild of democracy.

We spend a lot of time talking about the presidency, a position that may be filled by one person by four or maybe eight years. And we spend a lot of time talking about our senators and representatives who average twelve and nine years respectively. But a Supreme Court Justice? They serve for life. There are two sitting justices who’ve served more than two decades apiece, in addition to time spent in lower courts. Coincidentally, those two justices were confirmed unanimously by the Senate, something that can’t be said about any of the other current members of the court. I’m not sure why I find that interesting, but I do. Probably because I’m a dork.