Credit: Fred Schilling, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States

As distilled from an email update from Michael Waldman, President and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court struck down what remains of the Voting Rights Act. Soon, it will rule on the president’s birthright citizenship executive order, one that, as Waldman writes, “could upend what it means to be an American.”

That is not simply a legal question. It is an ethical one.

Waldman notes that “a chorus of voices has emerged questioning the Court’s credibility.” He points to criticism from across the spectrum, including Juan Williams, who cited allegations of corruption and wrote that “a reckoning is overdue.”

The concern is not noise. It’s a red flag.

“The Supreme Court is a branch of government. Nothing more, nothing less,” Waldman writes. “We want it to…stand up, with independence, for the rule of law. But we cannot rely on the Court to do that. Its power depends on its credibility—credibility it must earn.”

That last line matters.

Because institutions do not fail all at once. They weaken gradually when confidence begins to slip. An NBC News poll now shows public trust in the Court at an all-time low. For a body that depends not on force, but on faith, that is a dangerous place to be.

“At a time when democracy has never been more tested,” Waldman writes, “we need a strong, trusted Court to uphold the rule of law and defend our institutions.”

The good news, he adds, is that “there are solutions that could greatly bolster trust.”

What follows is not rhetoric. It is a framework—practical, and rooted in a basic premise: accountability is not the enemy of independence; it is its foundation.

Here are Six Steps Toward Restoring Trust, as put forth by Miriam Rosenbaum and Emily Whitehead of the Brennan Center.

1. Term Limits for Justices
   End lifetime tenure. Establish 18-year terms with regular appointments.
   No office in a democracy should carry unchecked, generational power.
2. Enforceable Ethics Standards
   Replace voluntary guidelines with a binding code—investigations, transparency, and real consequences.
   The principle is elementary: no one should be the judge of their own conduct.
3. Reform the Shadow Docket
   Limit emergency rulings to actual emergencies. Require written, signed explanations.
   Courts do not merely decide—they must explain.
4. Fast-Track Congressional Response
   Allow Congress to respond swiftly when rulings undermine laws or rights.
   In a democracy, elected representatives—not unelected judges—write policy.
5. Fix the Confirmation Process
   Guarantee hearings and votes. End procedural obstruction.
   Fairness is not optional; it is the Senate’s constitutional duty.
6. Increase Transparency
   Allow cameras in the courtroom. Let the public see the process.
   Because justice, to be trusted, must be visible.

This is not a radical agenda. It is a corrective one.

Waldman and his colleagues describe it as a set of reforms to “strengthen our democracy.” That’s exactly right.

The Court does not stand apart from the country. It stands because of it. And when trust begins to falter, the answer is not to look away. It is to repair what sustains it.