It is such a horrifically cruel irony that just in time for the 248th celebration of July 4th independence from tyranny that the imperial Supremes obliterated the foundation, the keystone to democracy in bestowing kingly power on a president without concern for criminal accountability.
With that ruling, they overturned the essence of “Rule of Law,” “Equal Justice under Law,” “No One is Above the Law,” – effectively obliterating the notion of democracy and “all are created equal.”
“In every use of presidential power, the president is now king, above the law,” said Justice Sonia Sotomayor in her dissent.
But they did more – just days before, they destroyed the remaining pillars in ending checks-and-balances and the notion of three co-equal branches of government, abrogating for the court an imperial authority over all – what the Congress produces, what the executive branch can do. At the same time, the court determined that Congress has no oversight over its ethics – making a mockery of their oath and rule that any justice should recuse when reasonably believed to have conflict of interest or “skin in game,” and in fact, by narrowing the notion of “public corruption,” the Supremes (Clarence Thomas having accepted $4 million and counting in gifts and favors) sought to inoculate themselves against their own obscenely corrupt practices.
In effect, the Imperial Supremes said President Trump could assassinate his rival without repercussion (since his political party would never actually impeach and remove him), mount a military coup, shoot asylum seekers and protesters. But in overturning the 1984 Chevron rule, which deferred to the experts and professionals in federal agencies, President Biden cannot mandate wearing a mask on an airplane during a deadly pandemic, cannot relieve student debt, cannot issue a carbon standard to mitigate against the climate and public health crisis or cannot ban bump stocks responsible for the worst gun massacre in U.S. history.
The Imperial Supremes don’t actually believe in the Declaration’s “all men are created equal.” Nor do they actually believe in the “We the people,” of the Constitution, in consistently ruling in favor of corporations and billionaires over actual people.
And, of course, there is no “immunity” – least of all “presidential immunity” – in the Constitution. Just the opposite because the Founders were most fearful of a president becoming a king, a tyrant, a dictator – exactly what the Supremes have now laid the groundwork for. That’s what made the United States different at the time – to be led by someone elected by the people to a term of office, who peacefully transferred that power afterward.
It ignores the “equal rights” and” equal protection” provisions of the Constitution, turning women’s reproductive freedom into a matter for the states – effectively dividing the country into slave or free and creating a new Underground Railroad for care – but overturns a 100-year old New York State gun control law, saying the state (or locality) has no right to protect its people.
It lays the groundwork for a dictator wannabe like Trump to implement the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025.
By obstructing the very trials that would establish whether Trump violated the plain language of the 14th Amendment and would be barred from taking office he may well be elected to, the Supremes have eliminated the mechanism to determine his eligibility. Leave it up to Congress? Well, Congress impeached Trump for insurrection and the Jan. 6th Select Committee found Trump incited deadly insurrection, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and used multi-pronged schemes to defraud and deny the American people their chosen leader. A Colorado court also adjudicated Trump an insurrectionist, ruling him ineligible to run for the office he was barred from holding.
Some claim that this court has proved itself not to be acting solely to protect their dear leader, the dictator wannabe Trump, because of their rulings in 2020, notably that (Republican) state legislatures could not override the popular vote and choose their own presidential electors. But that was 2020. Since then the Imperial Supremes have reached new heights of arrogance and shamelessness in furtherance of a political agenda.
Bush v. Gore in 2000 is when the Imperial court realized they basically could do what they want, “interpreting” the Constitution and law to achieve their aim. It followed with Citizens United in 2010, overturning centuries of precedent to rule that cash is speech and give corporations and billionaires more power over election outcomes than individuals. Then with Dobbs in 2022, they realized they could sweep away 50 years of precedent and for the first time in American history withdraw a right and get away with it.
The late Supreme Court Justice Gregory Scalia might have said that “one-person, one vote” isn’t specified in the Constitution when he anointed Bush president in 2000, nor is there an explicit “right to abortion,” but you know what else isn’t in the Constitution? “Gun.” “Corporation.” “God”. “Political Party.”
Indeed, the Founding Fathers presciently feared parties would undermine democracy. Instead, the Imperial Supremes have granted unlimited ability for political parties to deny certain groups their rights and to gerrymander – effectively overturning the letter and spirit of the Voting Rights Act and any pretense at “one person, one vote.”
What else isn’t in the Constitution? The Supreme Court’s power to overturn law or make law or policy. The ability to rule any action by Congress or the Executive Branch “unconstitutional” was assumed in 1803 in the Marbury v. Madison. So much for the BS of “originalism,” “textualism,” “history” and ”precedent” and the lie that the Constitution is set in stone (like the 10 Commandments) and not a living document that has been amended 27 times (the 28th, the Equal Rights Amendment, should have been recognized as ratified).
In fact, the only reference to the Supreme Court in the Constitution gives the Congress the authority to organize it – so much for the Imperial Supremes to wall themselves from congressional oversight.
In the blink of an eye, the Imperial Supremes remade government and diminished democracy, undoing the progress toward a “more perfect union” so hard fought over 248 years.
Here’s my question: Since the Imperial Supremes have discarded centuries of precedent, law, and the plain language of the Constitution when it suits, why are their rulings credible or enforceable now?
Their abuse of their office screams out for court reform: term limits (18 years) staggered so that every president gets to make appointments; expand the court to 13 to match the number of circuit courts (especially since they have made themselves the final say on every federal rule and regulation) and then require a random selection of nine to rule on each case, with stronger, enforceable rules for recusal; pass an enforceable ethics code. Impeach corrupt justices.
As Justice Sotomayor said, “With fear for our democracy, I dissent.”
