SCOTUS BRACKET: Crowning The Best U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Every season, the powers of March Madness hypnotizes this nation into a brain-melting bracket coma. The over-abundance of bracket talk is certainly impossible to ignore. And it is not just college basketball bracket talk that pollutes the airwaves during this time of year. Everything and anything seems to be free game to be transformed into bracket form. 

Fictional Lawyers. Check. 

Disney Films. Yup.

Meats. Why the hell not. 

But where is the bracket love for the SCOTUS bench? With the Supreme Court bench missing a key player for the past two months, the even-numbered sitting justices finally fits perfectly into bracket form. Talk about an Elite Eight! So, let's drag the highest bench in the country through the madness and see who takes home the crown as the best currently sitting SCOTUS justice. 

Seeding

Logically, the justices have to be ranked with the Chief Justice first and the rest following in line by seniority. 

#1: CJ John Roberts

#2: Anthony Kennedy

#3: Clarence Thomas

#4: Ruth Bader Ginsburg

#5: Stephen Breyer

#6: Samuel Alito

#7: Sonia Sotomayor

#8: Elena Kegan

Point Categories 

These categories probably aren’t the best for measuring who is the best sitting justices. But, what are you going to do.  I know people would like to throw politics and ideologies into the mix, but we all know there is no real fun in that. So, you get what you get, and you don’t get upset. 

Courtroom Curiosity 

Sitting at oral arguments like a statue without any interrogation of the issues almost displays a lack of interest in a case that have the potential to effect the entire nation. Questions are key to being liked in any situation. It opens up a window the justice's soul. A curious judges makes a better judge. Sorry, Clarence...

Penning Power  

If Supreme Ambitions taught me anything, when you are judge authoring an opinion is huge. Getting certain justices to jump on the band wagon is even bigger. To overstate it just a tad, the power loaded in these justice's pen makes them gladiators in robes. However, some justice are more like Maximus while others work the tongue better like Commodus. 

Humor

A laugh is worth a days worth of honey. Not sure what that means, but if a justice can make me laugh, then he gets an extra gold star in my book. Thanks to @SCOTUSHUMOR, we can get an excellent jumping off point to which justices deserve the most laughs. Throw in some witty remarks during a dissent and you have comedy gold. Well, law-comedy gold. 

Below is a fillable bracket for anyone that might want to play along. Also, follow us on Twitter to vote which justices deserve to move on. 

Starting this week, we will go match-up by match-up pitting these ever-regal justices against each other. So, don't miss out! 



ROUND 1:

#1 John Roberts v. #8 Elena Kagan
#2 Anthony Kennedy v. #7 Sonia Sotomayor