Defining the Problem

Surprise! It's the Supreme Court

Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash

If you are reading this you have probably already read several of my screeds against the Supreme Court which have been littering the internet recently. Over a year ago I was concerned that Merrick Garland was moving too slowly in prosecuting our previous president, but then he appointed Jack Smith, a man who seemed to be on a mission to get the truth and hold people accountable.

As the months have passed, it has become clear that although Smith has done an excellent job of writing clear and concise indictments and taking the fight to court, the courts have steadily slowed the process of getting Trump to trial. It seems that anyone who can spend $50 million on lawyers will manage to get a different kind of justice than a person who cannot afford to pay $800 an hour. As time has moved on, it became even clearer that this court is actually taking several steps to protect Trump, even if it means they need to redefine the words of the Constitution.

Right now there are many threats to American democracy, the five I feel are most dangerous are Vladimir Putin, the well-funded right-wing media, Donald Trump, the Republican Party, and at the top of the list, The United States Supreme Court.

Most people focus on Trump, but he is the pimple on top of the boil. He could not survive unless all of the others on the list supported him. They are using Trump as a wild and crazy smoke screen for their own agenda, which is their insatiable greed for money and power.

What the Court has done:

At the beginning of this millennium, the Supreme Court made a very hasty 5-4 decision to stop the counting of the votes in Florida. That allowed George W. Bush to become president despite many unexplored irregularities in the Florida election. That changed the future of the world in many ways.

Following that in 2010, in another 5-4 decision, the court decided, in Citizens United, that corporations and unions were people and that money was free speech. That ruling destroyed the limits on the amounts of money that could be spent on political campaigns and allowed new ways for people to anonymously give huge amounts to support candidates.

In the years since then, especially since McConnell prevented Obama from appointing a justice into an open seat, Trump was guided into appointing three more extreme conservatives to the Supreme Court. With a 6-3 majority they began their crusade, and I mean that word literally, in the Christian sense, to use its power to revamp American society. They have disregarded precedents that were fifty to a hundred and fifty years old. They have used citations from the Bible or English Common Law instead of the Constitution and the results have divided the country and drastically reduced the people’s trust in the judgment of this court.

Almost every issue that divides America has either been created or exacerbated by the court. These include but are not limited to the following:

— allowing gun purchases to anyone who wants them, no questions asked,

— allowing each state to determine its own rules about women’s reproductive health, which now includes not only abortion, but contraception, IVF, and privacy.

— They have decided that there was no longer discrimination against Black people voting in southern states, which has allowed those states to write new Jim Crow-like voting laws.

— They have told states that unless there is extreme racial discrimination they can gerrymander districts for any political reason.

— After guns, they have elevated the practice of the Christian religion over all other rights. You can discriminate in your business if the right god says it’s ok.

— They have stopped the EPA from enforcing regulations on industries that are making the Earth warmer and other things that destroy the planet, because following those regulations would limit profits.

— Decisions in cases in which workers, customers, or minorities are the plaintive against big corporations, again in cases in which the decision would affect profits, the court has ruled in favor of the corporations 110 - 0, according to RI Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.

And now, the court seems to be redefining the words of the Constitution in ways that will protect the previous president from going to trial. They have rejected Jack Smith’s attempts to get him on trial before the election. Also, Judge Eileen Cannon, who clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas, seems to feel that the evidence against Trump in the document case is so strong it should never be shown to a jury.

---

Compared to other functioning democracies, the US Supreme Court is the smallest, so the leanings of the court can change with one or two seats. It is the only court without term limits, as the Constitution states they have their jobs for life, which makes vacancies rare. It is the only court that can choose which cases it wants to hear, instead of having cases sent to them from lower courts or the legislature. It is the only court that is not accountable for any oversight.

All of this freedom has allowed the members of this court to take extreme positions that are dramatically affecting life in America. It also has allowed the court to not only become corrupt but to flaunt it. They are above the law, yet they make laws that other people have to follow, They protect themselves, their donors, and their friends. It is now well known that many of them have taken money and other large gifts from people who have financial interests in how cases are resolved.

I have no trust that they will protect the 2024 election from what we expect will be wild and ridiculous challenges from the Republican Party.

They have lost the respect of a large majority of the American people, and hence they have lost their legitimacy to rule over us. We are a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. We cannot let nine, isolated, arrogant, extremists divide and ruin our country.

This needs to be a major issue in the upcoming election, and more needs to be done to change the court before they outlaw protests against them.

NEW information: There will be a protest march to the Supreme Court on March 26. I hope it will be the first of many:

https://act.womensmarch.com/survey/March-26-Action-Survey/