The Supreme Court

Chief Justice John Roberts bears a great deal of responsibility for the situation we are in. His Citizens United alone did tremendous harm. Then there were Shelby and Rucho. If asked, he would say the three were the right decision when they obviously weren’t. They were rationalizations. Something humans are very good at. Often, after the fact. A form of making excuses.

In Robert's case, the rationalizing was done long before the fact. Took years and years to piece together something coherent enough, repeated enough, that it became somewhat acceptable. So it was with other conservative Justices and other egregiously wrong decisions such as Heller, McDonalds, Dobbs, Bruen, and Trump. Up to fifty years, in some cases. Worse, most likely, it will take years and years to overturn even the worst of this lot. It isn’t just a case of oops, maybe we should someday revisit that. When a justice writes that the Court may need to revisit one of its decisions, they are talking about a couple of generations and likely more.

Roberts and many another young law student and clerk spent years rationalizing up arguments for overturning laws of the land like the Civil and Voting Rights Acts and Supreme Court decisions like Brown v. Board and Roe v. Wade, and in preparation for possibly someday writing decisions like Citizens v. United that some rich and powerful people were calling for. Coming up with a good argument for such things was their ticket to get in line for an appointment to the Supreme Court. Roberts, the ‘balls and strike’ guy went to Florida in 2000 to advocate for George W. Bush. He was joined there by Kavanaugh. Both, impartially of course. Getting their ticket punched, let the record show.

When some of these arguments paled somewhat under the bright lights of the Supreme Court’s Courtroom, and national attention; it was evident that more was needed. On cue, ‘Originalism’ was invented by Robert Bork (yup), with impetus from Brown v. Board of Education, to soon become a banner for conservatives. They said that it meant the Constitution meant what it meant to those who wrote it, which is just a bit nebulous. But, convenient. Turns out, originalism meant that the Constitution meant whatever they, the ‘Originalists’, said it meant.

When it turns out that your argument plus originalism still isn’t all that convincing, just make stuff up. For example, Scalia’s Heller decision was a piece of sophistry for the ages. Roberts’ in Citizens and Rucho were right up there. Alito went beyond and referenced scripture in his Dobbs. In Trump v. United States, Roberts and Co wrote Trump a ‘Get out of Jail Free’ card after providing the felonious con sufficient delay to escape several prosecutions. He wouldn’t be President without John Roberts. Collectively, they empowered a wannabe dictator. Scalia’s on Bush v. Gore even bested his Heller’s; is considered the damnedest of all ages.

Former confederate states had begun rewriting their voting laws long before Shelby v. Holder was handed down. They hadn’t stolen the sign, it was telegraphed. The ‘umpire’ was on their side. Roberts’ dislike of the Voting Rights Act was what brung him to the dance. He was only waiting for the chance. So much for being judicious. His inability to foresee the consequences beggars our intelligence. It had to be deliberate.

For Clarence Thomas, Sam Alito and Neil Gorsuch; if the Constitution wasn’t written in line with their particular conservative ideology, it should have been. Just like Scalia, under their robes they are advocates for the right wing of the Republican Party. They are not there for their scholarship and it shows.

They came to the Court with an agenda(s). There, they are advocates for these agendas. Alito and Gorsuch have openly advertised for cases that would allow them to affect their agendas.

As attested to by the below listing of confirmation votes for the last fifteen appointments; of late, partisanship has trumped scholarship. Scholarship, the quality most desirable in a Justice, is now a scarcity.

Rehnqist 68-26,

Scalia 98-0,

Kennedy 97-0,

Souter 90–9,

Thomas 52–48,

Ginsburg 96–3,

Breyer 87-9,

Roberts 78- 22,

Alito 58 -42,

Sotomayor 68-31,

Kagan 63-37,

Gorsuch 54-45,

Kavanaugh 50-48,

Barrett 52-48,

Jackson 53-47

The lack of scholarship is no accident. For more than 30 years now, extreme partisanship has been used by the Republican Party and The Federalist Society to put partisan Justices on the Court and to keep highly qualified ones off. They were enabled and abetted in their endeavors by Citizens United and Dark Money. We would have a much better Supreme Court if they had not been so successful; if at least a two-thirds majority was required for Senate confirmation; if the influence of dark money was eliminated from the nomination process. America deserves a Supreme Court worthy of respect.

These are some of the reasons this Court has lost the respect of Americans. Mitch McConnell, Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society, and Citizens United and Dark Money are most responsible for the current majority on the Supreme Court. That majority has a lot to do with the direness of our current situation. Has done the nation great harm to date. Is a threat to do much more. C J Roberts needn’t look far to understand the reasons for the lack of respect being visited upon his Court.

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/531/98/

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/554/570/

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/558/310/

https://www.oyez.org/cases/2012/12-96

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rucho_v._Common_Cause

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/603/23-939/

https://angrybearblog.com/2022/10/originalism

https://angrybearblog.com/2022/10/of-leopards-and-hypocrites

https://angrybearblog.com/2021/12/trinity