Let us just touch on the US Supreme Court. Though perhaps not something about which people might discuss on an everyday basis, it can feel remote or abstracted from daily existence, yet its rulings directly affect issues of substance. The power it carries is great. And in recent times, the manner in which the Court operates is beginning to feel significantly different.

It’s not just what the judges are ruling. It’s how they’re ruling. It’s faster. There’s less explanation, less debate, less openness. That silence is what should make us all uncomfortable.

During the last term, the Court disposed of 113 emergencies. That’s an enormous increase over the 44 of the year before. These are meant for emergencies only, when the Court must intervene promptly. But now they’re being utilised for decision-making that shapes the nation’s policy. Over 40 of them had grave legal issues. In more than 20 of them, the Court enforced the side of the executive branch.

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Here’s where it gets concerning. Most of these emergency decisions had no public hearing. They arrived without written opinions. In others, we don’t even know how each justice voted. No record to examine. No explanation to learn from. Just a short order saying how it all turns out. And done.

In the early part of this year, the Trump administration halted almost five billion dollars in foreign aid. It was not money for discussion. It had been authorised by Congress. It was for refugee programmes, for relief after climate-related disasters, for food assistance for countries confronting actual emergencies.

Lower courts held the freeze........

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