Federal courts shape our lives in two main ways. First, both Supreme Court justices and judges in lower courts decide policy issues of major importance that define the scope of our basic constitutional rights. We see this most notably in the Supreme Court’s high-profile decisions on matters like same-sex marriage. But a second, less noticed judicial function also has a profound impact on our civic life. Federal judges, largely in the lower courts, rule on specific allegations that the constitutional rights of particular citizens were violated. In doing so, those judges implement the rights that they themselves have defined.

The federal courts’ implementation function is very poorly understood by most people. But rights matter only if they are implemented by judicial remedies. And federal judges have been increasingly rationing remedies over the last four decades. One example of many occurs in cases of excessive police force, in which victims today must prove that perpetrators had no conceivable explanation for their actions. For low-income people who face discriminatory police and hostile state courts without high-priced counsel, such a barrier is practically insurmountable.

Can anything be done to change this? Most obviously, we can change the composition of the federal bench, from the high court on down. But there’s another avenue that people should know about: Congress has the constitutional authority to require federal courts to mandate effective remedies for those whose rights were violated. The current occupants of Capitol Hill will obviously want no part of this project. But progressives should keep it in mind as a potential weapon in the battle over the courts in the years to come.

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