Recent years have highlighted the politicisation of appointments to the Supreme Court of the United States, and how consequential these judgeships can be. Following the death in 2016 of arch-conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, Barack Obama, in his final months as US president, nominated moderate Merrick Garland, whom the Republican-controlled Senate refused to confirm.

Newly elected President Donald Trump filled the vacancy with conservative Neil Gorsuch, who was soon joined on the bench by Brett Kavanaugh, a man of similar political leanings. Kavanaugh’s appointment was deeply controversial, as accusations of sexual assault during his college years emerged.