Every judge claims impartiality, that he or she renders decisions based on the facts in the cast at hand, but Supreme Court justices are in a particular spotlight, both today and in terms of their historical legacy.

The 2000 election exposed the fragile state of the American voting system, but it's unclear how much has changed since the Bush v. Gore controversy 12 years ago. Rick Hasen says that result has been a confusing patchwork of election laws. "It's a myth to think that we have a single, national election on election day," he says. "When it comes to the election of the president, we have 13,000 separate elections."