Supreme Court

Supreme Court Reputation At All Time Low!

The Supreme Court of the United States once was the most highly honored government institution, with a reputation of having the highest ethics, and beyond politics!

However, the Roberts Court, in place now for 18 years since 2005, has lost all credibility, as it has struck out against basic constitutional rights relating to women, race, and sexuality, and has promoted a gun culture; advocated religion (Christianity) over civil rights; and worked to limit voting rights.

The two Bush appointees—Clarence Thomas (George H. W. Bush), and Samuel Alito (George W. Bush) have become the most horrendous, narrow minded Supreme Court Justices of the past century, more so than Antonin Scalia and William Rehnquist, in their negative influence on constitutional law.

Roberts himself, who is so concerned about the negative image of the Court, has been unwilling to promote the concept of ethics reform, despite the clearcut scandals of both Thomas and Alito, but also including himself and even some by other Court members.

So Roberts, the 17th Chief Justice in American history, will not have a great historical reputation in the future, and the Court’s misbehavior will lead to a move to change the future of the Court, including, possibly, future expansion of the Court; or term limits for future Justices; and mandated ethics reforms when and if the Democrats can have solid control of the legislative agenda in some future Congress, hopefully sooner rather than later!

Roberts, himself, has already served as Chief Justice longer than most of that select group of 17, and it would be a good situation if he, with 18 years; Alito with 17 years; and Thomas with 32 years (12th longest of all Supreme Court Justices) were to retire soon, but that is very unlikely to occur anytime soon!

Time For Chief Justice Roberts, Associate Justices Thomas And Alito To Retire!

The controversies over conflicts of interest and open corruption on the Supreme Court calls for the three Bush 1 and Bush 2 Justices to retire.

Clarence Thomas has been on the Court for nearly 32 years, 12th longest!

Samuel Alito has been on the Court for 17 years, the norm for Justices in American history!

Chief Justice Roberts has been on the Court for 18 years, the norm for the last three Chief Justices, and only three Chief Justices in the 19th century have served longer!

There is a dire need for term limits on the Court, as 18 years of service would allow each President in the future to select two Justices in a four year term, and turnover is essential, as the Justices should not be regarded with reverence as if they are deities!

Clarence Thomas, Harlan Crowe, And Leonard Leo: Massive Ethics Scandal!

Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas has become the most controversial member of the Supreme Court since Associate Justice Abe Fortas resigned from the Court in 1969, due to an ethics scandal, which by comparison to Thomas, was quite minor.

Thomas and his wife, Ginni Thomas, have been taking favors, gifts, and lots of money from billionaires Harlan Crow and Leonard Leo, the latter the head of the right wing Federalist Society, which has been dedicated, and quite successfully, to turn the US Federal Judicial system to the extreme Right.

Thomas has been controversial since he was confirmed in 1991, after charges of sexual harassment by Anita Hill, caused the closest vote of the 20th century in the US Senate.

The Court under Chief Justice John Roberts has been besmirched not only by Thomas, but by controversies surrounding the appointments of all three Trump appointees, and the two Bush appointees of Thomas and Samuel Alito.

Faith and trust in the fairness and balance of the Court has declined rapidly, but there is little that can be done to force Thomas to resign, as that would have the effect of changing the strong right wing extremism of the present Court with a Joe Biden replacement.

The rule of law and faith in the Constitution is under attack, and restored confidence in the Court is not likely anytime soon.

Supreme Court Justice Quality Way Down From Decades In The Past!

Republican Party Presidents since 1953 have selected the vast majority of Supreme Court Justices!

Dwight D. Eisenhower 5
Richard Nixon 4
Gerald Ford 1
Ronald Reagan 4
George H. W. Bush 2
George W. Bush 2
Donald Trump 3
Total 21 with William Rehnquist listed twice under Nixon and Reagan

in 40 years of Republican Presidents

Democratic Party Presidents have had far fewer appointments!

John F. Kennedy 2
Lyndon B. Johnson 2
Jimmy Carter 0
Bill Clinton 2
Barack Obama 2
Joe Biden 1
Total 9

in 32 years of Democratic Presidents

So twice as many Repubican appointments as Democrats!

Eisenhower had Chief Justice Earl Warren, Associate Justice Potter Stewart, and Associate Justice William Brennan stand out!

Nixon had Chief Justice Warren Burger and Associate Justice Harry Blackmun stand out!

Ford had Associate Justice John Paul Stevens stand out!

Reagan had Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy stand out!

H W Bush had Associate Justice David Souter stand out!

On the Democratic side:

Kennedy had Associate Justice Byron White stand out!

Johnson had Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall stand out!

Clinton had Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Associate Justice Stephen Breyer stand out!

Obama had Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Associate Justice Elena Kagan stand out!

Biden had Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson stand out!

So 9 Republican appointments and 7 Democratic appointments have stood out!

Now, sadly, we have a group of appointments by Republican Presidents (the two Bushes and Donald Trump) that have been extremist and involved in conflicts of interest, and are not interested in being in the moderate center of constitutional law!

These include Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and sadly, Chief Justice John Roberts!

Supreme Court Ethical Violations Are Totally Out Of Control!

The Supreme Court, already outrageously extremist right wing, due to the three Donald Trump appointees added to the arrogant, nasty Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, the appointees of the two Bush Presidencies, is now even further in violation of ethics!

It turns out that Chief Justice John Roberts has judged in cases that involve financial matters affecting his wife!

This blogger has always tried to give slack to Roberts, but at this point, he is the head of a Court out of control, and refuses to testify before a Senate committee on Judicial ethics, of which the Court, clearly, has ZERO!

Roberts has been on the Court for 18 years, Thomas 32 years and Alito 17 years, and it is time for these unethical Justices to retire!

Of course, they will NOT do so, but that is the argument for expansion of the Court, as this is very different than the controversial so called “Court Packing Plan” of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937, which was defeated!

That Court in 1937 had declared several New Deal laws unconstitutional, but the Court in the present is way beyond any earlier abuses, and longevity of Court members is out of control as compared to history!

There is a need for term limits on the Court, and for now, to balance the Court and make for fair constitutional law, new members need to be added!

Until that occurs, which is of course unlikely, the Court will have further rapidly declining prestige and support of public opinion, which does matter in a democracy!

Supreme Court Corruption Is Massive: Time For Reform!

The latest revelation about Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch selling property to a law firm that has argued before the Court adds to the similar actions of Clarence Thomas selling property to a right wing billionaire, and makes clear the reality of ethical violations by members of the Court, who seem to think they are beyond reproach!

Add the nasty, arrogant manner of Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas; the ethical issues around Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh that have never been truly addressed; and the abuse promoted by Kentucky Senator and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in promoting a quick replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Amy Coney Barrett just weeks before the Presidential Election of 2020, while blocking the appointment of Merrick Garland to replace Antonin Scalia nine months before the Presidential Election of 2016.

One could argue that except for Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts, that all of the other Republican appointments to the Court are, at the least, ethically challenged, and screams for Supreme Court reform.

The Court is more extreme right wing than it has been since the 1920s, so there is now a strong argument to add members to the Court to right the balance, and to set term limits for future Court Justices.

Justices are on the Court for too long, with Thomas now at almost 32 years, and the all time record being 36, and with Alito at 17 years and Roberts at 18 years, which sounds like what the proper term in the future should be 18 years, with the idea that every President in the future, would have two appointments in a four year term, and there would be constant turnover over four plus Presidential terms.

With Two Weeks To Go, Voter Enthusiasm And Participation Is Highest For Midterm Election!

With early voting having begun, already there are strong indications of voter enthusiasm and commitment, so the participation in voting in midterm elections is on the road to an all time high level.

The question that remains unanswered is whether the enthusiasm is centered about the danger to American democracy presented by MAGA Republicans and Donald Trump, and the issue of the Dobbs V Jackson women’s Health Organization Supreme Court case on destruction of abortion rights as was declared in Roe V Wade a half century ago.

The polls are so conflicting, and often have been incorrect, after the fact, so there is a waiting game as to how the American people at large are expressing their views.

Hopefully, we will not discover that Donald Trump and his minions have managed to “pull the wool over one’s eyes”, and have Trumpites showing greater strength than the approximate one third of the population believed to be vehement Trump supporters!

International Relations Becoming More Dominated By Authoritarian Leaders

The world in 2022 is becoming more dominated by authoritarian leaders than any time since World War II, a sign of major challenges for President Joe Biden.

Already, the Russian Federation, China, North Korea, and Iran are constantly challenging America and its democracy.

But now, Saudi Arabia, under Mohamed bin Salman, in cooperation with Vladimir Putin, is cutting oil production, and creating an economic nightmare of higher oil prices, just as the Midterm Elections of 2022 come upon us in one month.

The Democrats already have problems with inflation and higher mortgage rates and this despicable action by Saudia Arabia, in lead with Putin, could very well undermine the push to protect American democracy in the upcoming elections, and prevent protection of abortion rights.

This will be a very difficult month, with growing sense that MAGA Republicans and Donald Trump could end up in control of government, and undermine, in league with an extremist right wing Supreme Court, many of the progressive
advancements in government and civil rights that have occurred in the years since the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson!

Republican And Conservative Advantage In House, Senate, Electoral College System, Despite Popular Vote Advantage For Democrats

The American political system is in bad straits, in what seems like a losing battle for popular vote to determine who runs our government.

The system has become stacked to favor Republicans and conservatives.

Republican legislatures in many states promote gerrymandering, which hurts Democrats massively, not only in the state governments, but also in setting up House of Representatives seats. An example is Florida, which used to have four Congressional seats that favored African American representation, but now has been halved to two such districts.

Fewer people regularly vote nationally for Republicans, but they have near to a majority even before the election in 2022 for the House of Representatives, and it is likely they will control the lower house of Congress despite having fewer total popular votes nationally.

Also, the US Senate has a situation in which Republican Senators, presently half the Senate, are elected by a population of about about 142 million Americans, while Democrats, presently the other half of the Senate, are elected by a population of about 184 million Americans!

So 60 percent of the nation’s population is being underrepresented, while 40 percent is overrepresented.

The idea that Wyoming has two US Senators with only about 600,000 people, while California with nearly 40 million peoples has two US Senators, is an abomination, but simply has evolved that way over time, so the US Senate is anti democracy to the extreme!

Additionally, the Electoral College favors the small, mostly Republican states, this despite the Democrats winning the national popular vote seven of the last eight Presidential elections, from 1992 through 2020, with the one exception of 2004!

So the idea of democracy is under attack, and the right wing Federalist Society has managed to “fix” the Supreme Court, with a strong 6-3 margin, with only Chief Justice John Roberts able to be considered, most of the time, as “moderate”.

So a constitutional crisis exists, with white supremacists working to insure that American democracy fails completely as we reach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026!

Women Democratic Governors And Nominees Work To Insure Abortion Rights In Midterm Elections

The Democratic Party has a substantial number of women governors, and women gubernatorial nominees, who would insure that abortion rights would be restored or kept as they are, despite the Supreme Court move against abortion rights in June!

This includes the following Governors:

Laura Kelly of Kansas
Janet Mills of Maine
Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan
Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico
Kathy Hochul of New York

Also, the following gubernatorial nominees:

Stacey Abrams of Georgia
Diedre Dejear of Iowa
Nan Whaley of Ohio
Nellie Gorbea of Rhode Island

And three open seats with Democratic women nominees:

Katie Hobbs of Arizona
Maura Healey of Massachusetts
Tina Kotek of Oregon

At this point, the odds would favor all five sitting Governors to be reelected; a tough battle for four nominees against sitting governors; and excellent possibilities for three open seats women nominees.

The elections most likely to gain attention are:

Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan
Stacey Abrams of Georgia
Nan Whaley of Ohio
Katie Hobbs of Arizona