Friday, December 11, 2020, will go down in history as a glorious day for Democracy, the Rule of Law, and reaffirming the Supreme Court for, once again, having had the courage to say “NO!” to a President who thought he was unaccountable!
In 1974, in US V Richard Nixon, the Supreme Court ordered that the Watergate Tapes be handed over to the Special Prosecutior, by a 8-0 decision, leading to the resignation of the President. Three of the votes against Nixon came from Justices he had appointed.
In 1997, in Clinton V Jones, the Supreme Court ordered that the President testify in a civil trial dealing with sexual harassment, leading to his impeachment for lying before a grand jury. The vote was unanimous, with even the two Clinton appointees in the majority!
And now in 2020, the Supreme Court unanimously, with even the three Justices appointed by Donald Trump, throwing out the frivolous case backed by 17 state Attorneys General and 126 House Republicans (two thirds of the party in that chamber), that wished to throw out the votes of the four swing states that went to Joe Biden, insuring him of victory in the Presidential Election of 2020!
The Supreme Court has its critics, and has some members whose ethics and morals are suspect, but the Supreme Court proved its mettle in a crisis moment, and once again limited Presidential power. It prevented a dictatorship from being established by the most corrupt President in American history who, even with a potential pardon by himself (which would be illegal) or by Mike Pence, will pay the price for his violations of the law in New York State, and face likely conviction and a prison sentence!