Given the scandals that have rocked the U.S. Supreme Court, it's understandable, albeit regrettable, that the editorial writers at the Wall Street Journal last week would claim the court "could use more defenders."

The editorial, "The Supreme Court Gets a Defense," waxed ecstatic when it located one such defender: a lawyer named Kannon Shanmugam, who is a partner in a prominent New York law firm, clerked for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, and has argued numerous cases before the court.