Justice on the Cheap
I have a hunch there’s lots of vodka being downed in the Kremlin after the events of the past three weeks.
Okay, some context is needed here. We've had a GOP dominated SCOTUS for a long time. In the past 55 years, Republican presidents nominated 16 SCOTUS judges who were confirmed. Democratic presidents nominated only 6 who were confirmed.
Now, because Mitch McConnell rigged the nominee hearings to keep an Obama nominee off the SCOTUS, then completely contradicted himself 4 years later to rush through another Trump nominee, instead of a 5-4 majority, the GOP has a 6-3 majority. And its agenda has already proven extremist in several ways.
So far, they've made an effort to weaken the EPA, they've rolled back women's rights (and with embryos given personhood in Alabama) it won't be long before states start banning birth control with a big thumbs up from the extremists on this court.
Then today they appear to have delayed the biggest trial of Mr. Trump till after the 2024 election.
They're going to begin hearings on Trump's claim of total immunity from all the laws in the universe, including, presumably, the law of gravity. Hearings in late April means a decision won't be likely to come till late June. Standard DOJ policy for decades has been to avoid pursuing any actions favoring or opposing a presidential candidate in the last 2-3 months before an election.
Thus, it becomes highly unlikely that the trial can take place in a window of 6 to 9 weeks after the SCOTUS rules. Worse, there was zero need to accept the case at all since there's no question at all that Mr.Trump doesn’t have that blanket immunity for every crime he committed after, during and before he was president.
Since at least June 2023, it's been pretty clear that Trump would be indicted in multiple venues for an array of crimes. In the past 5 months, it became clear that Trump's lawyers would slow down these cases in every way possible. Everyone understands this clearly and understands that this election will be of monumental importance because it threatens our form of government, all our laws and could eliminate elections completely.
Remember back in the 2000 election when the SCOTUS stepped in to declare Bush the winner because there was a deadline nearing?
That took THREE days. Remember that: THREE DAYS.
It's also become clear that the 2010 Citizens United 5-4 SCOTUS ruling tilted political influence over future elections to favor wealthy donors and big corporations. It reversed over 100 years of campaign finance restrictions. The Speechnow ruling, also in 2010, allowed for the creation of SuperPACS that could spend unlimited amounts of money with little effective oversight and loopholes so the actual donor names could remain secret.
And the toothless vague ethics rules that the SCOTUS makes for itself means that SOME SCOTUS judges have since apparently sold themselves to the highest bidder. Millions have been spent on two in particular, Justices Alito and Thomas.
Millions more have been spent to advance theocratic legal decisions via the influence of the Federalist Society on the selection of all federal judges. It's not adherence to the founders' intentions that the society is actually after (as they claim).
It's rolling back women's rights, the voting rights of racial minorities and deregulation of a broad array of legal safeguards that have protected us for decades. That’s also crystal clear.
And now that radical, conservative 6-3 majority is doing its best to get Trump elected. Which will make their mega wealthy overlords very very happy.
Consider the responses of lawyers, law professors, prosecutors and retired judges after the SCOTUS announcement of the April hearings after the SCOTUS announcement today. (The first was written 13 days ago but remains relevant).
Then there’s tweets from Elie Mystal, a longtime Justice Correspondent at The Nation magazine. He refers first to the other big announcement that Mitch McConnell will step down as the Senate leader of his party in 10 months.
It’s already evident that Justice Thomas sells his soul for a fairly high price. Alito’s soul is a bargain by comparison. Nobody knows the price for the votes of Kavanaugh or Barrett. And there’s still no evidence that Chief Justice Roberts ever had one to sell.
[As for the remaining case, the conspiracy election fraud trial in Georgia, the hearing about prosecutor Fani Willis will resume Friday and that judge will likely make a decision by mid-March whether the trial can continue and whether Willis will lead it.]
As good as any other video to kiss democracy goodbye.
Do I seem a bit jaded?
Okay, I’ll lighten up for this finale. Here’s a cover that’ll make you think someone was resurrected.
I can't even.