The United States Supreme Court is a danger to American democracy.
Just like a dictator, Justice Alito's opinions now regularly ignore evidence, stand logic on its head, and invents new legal standards to suit his politics.
Abyss noun
ə-bis
1. an immeasurably deep gulf
2. the moral and legal place the John Roberts court has plunged America into
It is no longer sufficient for Elena Kagan to write fiery dissents. They do nothing to stop the damage this court is determined to do to the rule of law, to our democracy, and to American freedom. To be sure, the damage is not her fault.
That blame falls on her unprincipled colleagues. The flag-waving Justice Alito has been shown to be a partisan hack. His opinions now regularly ignore evidence, stand logic on its head, and invent new legal standards to suit his politics. This is, of course, what dictators do. Having stripped women of their right to bodily autonomy, he now strips black voters of their right to equal representation. Justice Alito and five of his colleagues have now said they do not need to complete overrule the Voting Rights Act to allow any state to violate it utterly. It’s like they are not even trying any more to pretend this is jurisprudence. Much easier just to call it is power.
We have come to the point where the United States Supreme Court is a danger to American democracy. I do not say this lightly. It is, I fear, even more dangerous than a second Trump term, though they go hand in glove. The path to this moment was years in the making, and much ink has been spilled explaining how we got here. But that we have can no longer be ignored.
Hamilton famously wrote (Federalist 78):
For I agree that “there is no liberty, if the power of judging be not separated from the legislative and executive powers.” And it proves, in the last place, that as liberty can have nothing to fear from the judiciary alone, but would have every thing to fear from its union with either of the other departments;
America’s English rulers had taught Hamilton and the other framers that unified power could be corrupted and was no guarantor of freedom. In fact, it could be, and was often, mere tyranny. That is why they separated powers into three distinct and independent branches. They are meant to hold each other in check.
The Roberts Court stands firmly with anti-democratic interests. Today’s fiat undermines democracy just as Citizens United did. Both seek to give additional power to some voters at the expense of other. The rich, the corporate, and those who call themselves Republicans.
Meanwhile, the legislature, corrupted by the same forces, can no longer correct them. It is mutually reinforcing, as the Citizens United unleashed the flow of corrupting cash that transformed the legislative branch. Now the same powers aim for the executive branch as well. To be clear: The legislature could have ended the Trump madness by voting to impeach after January 6th. But the GOP stood firmly against it, just as they have managed to halt the imposition of judicial ethics rules on the Supreme Court.
Mr. Alito and his colleagues feel above the law. Philosopher kings who will impose their idea of a righteous nation upon we benighted Americans. King George and Lord North felt the same. But that was two and half centuries ago, and there was an ocean between us. Today’s threat is home grown.
We stand, literally at the frayed end of our constitutional tether.
Abyss, indeed.