The American judiciary still rules. Opinions are issued. Orders are entered. Dissents are filed with their familiar blend of rigor and lament. To casual observers, this appears to be continuity—business as usual in a system that prides itself on procedure. Yet power does not reside in parchment. It resides in whether rulings bind the conduct of those who would prefer not to be bound. A court that speaks without being obeyed does not lack authority on paper; it lacks authority in practice. And...

The American judiciary still rules. Opinions are issued. Orders are entered. Dissents are filed with their familiar blend of rigor and lament. To casual observers, this appears to be continuity—business as usual in a system that prides itself on procedure. Yet power does not reside in parchment. It resides in whether rulings bind the conduct of those who would prefer not to be bound. A court that speaks without being obeyed does not lack authority on paper; it lacks authority in practice. And...