Comments open re immunity decision
July 1, 2024
Based on the volume and emotion of emails from readers about the Supreme Court decision on immunity, I will open a Comments thread to all readers to allow them to share their feelings.
I am working on a newsletter about the decision and will publish this evening. But the opinion is worse than we feared. It is lawless. It rewrites the Constitution. It creates logical absurdities. It is a transparent effort to protect Trump from Jack Smith’s prosecution.
My only hopeful comment is that the decision is so bad it will not stand. Like Dred Scott (enslaved people are not citizens and not entitled to judicial protections), Plessy v. Ferguson (upholding segregation), Koramatsu v US (upholding the Japanese internment camps), today’s decision will be overturned and remembered as a mark of shame on the Roberts Court.
I am opening Comments to all. Please help me keep the Comments section a thoughtful, safe place for this community to join together in solidarity on a difficult day.
Here’s how you can help me: When I opened the Comments section over the last few days, the trolls lurking on Substack entered and posted offensive comments. (The usual paywall blocks them; they don’t want to give a credit card or real credentials for the privilege of posting.) I don’t have time to monitor the Comments section all day. So, if you see an offensive comment, copy it (and the poster’s name) and send it to me at rbhubbell@gmail.com. I will remove it and ban the poster.
At the same time, I can’t moderate heated debates or decide disputes. We all know what a troll looks and sounds like; let me know if you see any of those.
I will be back in touch this evening.
We are going to prevail. We now understand the stakes clearly. That is the first step forward. Let’s take it together!
At the darkest hours, our forebears did not give up, but kept pushing. Black people in this country have not given up struggling for equal rights against all odds, neither have women, and many other marginalized groups. We didn't give up fighting the Nazis in WWII. The Brits during the Blitz. This is one of those times. I am angry, sad, terrified and outraged. And I am going to use all of those feelings to work even harder to elect Joe Biden and Democrats up and down the ticket.
This SC has overstepped their bounds. They have given away something that wasn't theirs to give away. It's something that belongs to all of us. The rule of law is what makes us US and no court no justice has the right to give it away.