Why are apointments to US supreme court so contested

As an European, this is something that puzzles me about US politics. It was a huge deal when the republicans blocked Obamas candidate for the supreme court, and later had their own candidate get the vacant seat. I never hear about similar controversies in my own country (Denmark) or neighboring countries.

So can anybody explain why it is different in the US?

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/2tbBiSE