The Supreme Court is totally out of control, with its new decision on having no limits on campaign spending by wealthy donors, added on to the Citizens United Case of 2010, and the limitation of voting rights in a 2013 decision.
Chief Justice John Roberts has solidified a five member GOP majority to destroy all attempts to prevent corporate and wealthy people from controlling the political system, an effort pursued from the time of Theodore Roosevelt a century ago through Senator John McCain and Senator Russ Feingold in the 1990s and early 2000s.
That is all for naught now, and shows the dangers of a runaway, reckless, right wing radical Court!
This is what made Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Barack Obama criticize Court power, along with progressive reformers including Senator Robert La Follette of Wisconsin, Senator George Norris of Nebraska, Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont!
This is the result of 13 Supreme Court nominees since 1960 by Republican Presidents, to only 8 by Democrats, and with two of those Democratic appointments (Arthur Goldberg by John F. Kennedy and Abe Fortas by Lyndon B. Johnson), only lasting three and four years respectively.
Of course, Republican appointments of Harry Blackmun by Richard Nixon; John Paul Stevens by Gerald Ford; Sandra Day O’Connor by Ronald Reagan; and David Souter by George H. W. Bush, turned out to be major surprises in their rulings, but we also ended up with some of the most reactionary and right wing radical appointments in all of American history with the appointments of William Rehnquist by Richard Nixon and the elevation of Rehnquist to Chief Justice by Ronald Reagan; Lewis Powell by Richard Nixon; Antonin Scalia by Ronald Reagan; Clarence Thomas by George H. W. Bush; and Samuel Alito by George W. Bush. The appointments of Chief Justice Warren Burger by Richard Nixon; Anthony Kennedy by Ronald Reagan; and Chief Justice John Roberts by George W. Bush, have been more of a mixed bag, sometimes good, and sometimes horrible in its effect on constitutional law!
Meanwhile, John F. Kennedy selected a mostly conservative Justice Byron White; Lyndon B Johnson selected Thurgood Marshall; Bill Clinton selected Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer; and Barack Obama selected Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, but sadly, their influence in the last four of the five names listed, has been mostly in being the opposition, sometimes vehement in nature!
The effect on the future of American democracy is massive, with this right wing Court majority, and the only hope is the eventual retirement of Scalia and Kennedy, and hopefully, continuation of a Democratic Senate and President for the rest of the decade, so that the Court changes direction in the future!
Yes Professor,
It is one thing to be pro-corporation and supporting economic growth; but it is another thing to be an enabler, and embrace predatory capitalism.
This, and not the inverse, is the more bigger threat to Democracy. Instead of one man one vote, they are directed to one dollar one vote….you contribute $1M dollars you should see 1M votes.
The best Democracy money can buy.
After Citizen’s United and now the McCutcheon vs FED Election Comm ruling which eliminates LIMITS on overall campaign donation sadly confirms that the 5 bought and paid for Republican justices are nothing more than over reaching extensions of the GOP..
Whoever can buy the most votes now WINS. These justices are supposed to ensure ALL Americans the promise of equal justice under the law and are supposed to be guardians and interpreters of the Constitution ! They have assured that the ONLY ones who will benefit in elections are the very wealthy.
I read Justice Robert’s opinion denying the corrupting influence of big money and it clearly proves that Ass Clown’s brain is “divorced from reality”!
The legacy of this SCOTUS opens the floodgates and allows the Koch brothers or Sheldon Adelson types to buy and create their own U.S. government.
The sad thing is the Republican voters either have no clue, are too stupid to understand or just don’t care that they don’t matter. I did a quick scan of conservative websites and it is stunning to read the absolute stupidity or just don’t care attitudes expressed. ….Facepalm shaking head. All they care about is hating Obama and keeping their guns.
A brilliant comment and assessment of the Supreme Court! Thanks, Maggie, and, of course, Engineer!