It is difficult to comment on this since I have no legal standing. Or, should I say no training in constitutional law. Yet, as a voter, I find it takes my breath away to think about how shamelessly six justices can take away the rights of women to reproductive health care with such arrogance and hostility. We must do everything to restore what these justices have taken back after nearly 50 years. Vote in 2022 & 2024.
The quality of the sophistry of Supreme Court opinions is in sharp decline since the death of Scalia. One possible cause: the tendency of conservative judges to hire only like-minded clerks put forward by the Federalist Society or a few Yale faculty members. They’re in a bubble, and there’s no one nearby with a hat pin.
Jul 10, 2022·edited Jul 10, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
This decision by the Roberts court will not stand. It may stand for a while, but history is being written, day by day, week by week, month by month and year by year. As stated by individuals far more notable than me, the arc of history bends towards justice. Democracy is not static. It must be articulated and re-articulated in every generation. Roe stood for 50 years. Time is on the side of justice. Wrongs have been righted before and they will be again. There's far more threatening our democracy today than this one ruling. We face historical forces hell-bent on rewriting most of a century's worth of progress on civil rights. It remains to the electorate to awaken from it's slumber and take action to demand that the government, all three branches, reflect the will of the people. It won't happen if only a fraction of the public participate. It demands that all of us wake up, show up and cast our votes thoughtfully.
My name is Earl. Long before the Dixie Chicks stuffed me in a trunk or the TV series about redemption, I was proud to share the name with Earl Warren, a hero of my childhood.
The Supreme Court has not become the least respected part of the federal government. Congress retains that honor. But that it is fallen farther and faster is appalling.
I say this as someone who worked for the federal government for 30 years and was sired by a gentleman who worked for it for 50 years. It is precisely because I am a patriot that I am so appalled by the decisions of the Court majority.
US Constitution Article 3 Section 1 "...The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour," https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artIII_S1_8_1_3/ A little history: " in 1804 Jeffersonian Republicans attempted to remove Supreme Court Chief Justice Samuel Chase, who they viewed as openly partisan and biased against their party.10 The allegations against Chief Justice Chase included that he acted in an "arbitrary, oppressive, and unjust manner" at trial, misapplied the law, and expressed partisan political views to a grand jury.11 The attempt failed, and Congress has never removed a federal judge for disagreement with the law's application or because of difference in political views." It seems high time to remove a Supreme Court Justice or two or three or five for " arbitrary, oppressive and unjust manner" starting with Justice Alito, then Justice Thomas and if the Congress is on a roll Justice Barrett if she has written any opinions along the same lines as Justice Alito's writings. I would think just adding your name to Justice Alito's opinion would be enough. Justice Gorsuch should be removed because his confirmation was in contempt of the Constitution by Majority Leader McConnell and Justice Kavanaugh simply for incompetence. Justices Thomas and Kavanaugh should at a minimum recuse themselves from any judgement concerning women because of sexual harassment allegations that were never permitted to be fully addressed. By ignoring the Ninth Amendment they have made cruelty law. This must be remedied! NOW!
An old New Yorker cartoon by David Sipress on my fridge shows eight of the US's founding fathers gathered around a table reviewing a long document. The man holding the paper says, "Now, should we add something at the end about how wise we are and therefore nothing in here should ever be changed?"
In my reading of history, it is evident to me that the "founders" considered the Constitution to be a "work in progress". A document to be reviewed and improved regularly in an effort to make it more efficient and to reflect the realities of a rapidly changing world. And their world was spinning...
Let us get some perspective here. While the founders had some English precedents to base their work on...they were truly inventing a brand new form of government - creating a new nation from scratch! The idea that they could make it "perfect" and that this "perfect" would endure without adjustment is just naive and frankly, stupid.
Do we look at industry that way? How do we view science or medicine? How about sports performance and the rules that govern it? Are there not to be adjustments and progress? Learning and growing smarter - isn't that a goal?
IMO, this is the central tenet that holds us back from being an intelligent nation. The extreme right uses the Constitution as if it were a document handed down from the Heavens - to be worshiped and interpreted in the same way they use religion - for power. To protect their minority from "others". And oh how devilishly creative they are in that effort. I guess we shouldn't be surprised. Look how they use the Bible to meet their needs - cherry picking references, using the name of God to justify their horrors.
Frankly, I waver between hoping that we can all get along and pull ourselves out of this slimy mess....and just wishing that we could start over again - the Modern Tolerant States of America. Let the others go their own perverted and cruel way.
If the Radical Right does gain complete dominance in the next couple of elections, this may happen more subtly than a series of secessions. In fact it has already begun. States are passing laws that work around the recent decisions of the Supremely Sick Court. Maine, NY and MA are legislating creatively. I think I see a US that will begin to look more like Europe. Loosely united in terms of National Defense - a confederation of nation states that are radically different in their sense of democracy and human rights. It will be left to states, counties, cities and towns to protect their citizens and make whatever efforts we can to save the planet.
And, I, for one, am fed up with distributing money to states that deliberately wallow in educational backwaters and pass laws right out of The Handmaid's Tale.
Like all trumpists, the rogue majority of this court doesn’t really care about the rule of law or the constitution. They only care about what they want and will bastardize any law or article or amendment. They are a court of liars and manipulators.
This is one of the most succinct, excellent statements I have read on this, Robert. I would like to see it, or a shortened version, in newspapers across the country. If we all sent you links to our papers, might you consider submitting?
Well, Alioto neglected to "mention" that the word "woman" is not even in the Constitution, so his statement that the Constitution does not enumerate the right to an abortion is disingenuous in the least--if not an outright lie of omission. A national association of historians just sent a letter of protest that Alioto ignored/lied about the well-documented, long history of abortion on these shores. Why not include ignoring the 9th Amendment to the list that Alioto ignored/lied about in his decision?
I read an essay somewhere today about the post-legal SCOTUS -- they're now just playing Calvinball
Whether incompetence or willful political disregard, scalia merits shaming, though it appears he has little capacity for shame. Does anyone‘follow the money’ where the justices are concerned?
Jul 10, 2022·edited Jul 10, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Dear Robert, Your arguments today and in the preceding newsletter are compelling and devastating. (No sign of covid brain fog!) And I have also been commenting here that the Originalists want to take the Constitution back to when the US was a slaveholding society and women could not vote. How do the Supreme Court justices get away with such shoddy arguments?! They should be impeached. Shouldn't the Dems be aiming for a supermajority in House, Senate, Presidency to enact such a process - or do something effective?
It is difficult to comment on this since I have no legal standing. Or, should I say no training in constitutional law. Yet, as a voter, I find it takes my breath away to think about how shamelessly six justices can take away the rights of women to reproductive health care with such arrogance and hostility. We must do everything to restore what these justices have taken back after nearly 50 years. Vote in 2022 & 2024.
The quality of the sophistry of Supreme Court opinions is in sharp decline since the death of Scalia. One possible cause: the tendency of conservative judges to hire only like-minded clerks put forward by the Federalist Society or a few Yale faculty members. They’re in a bubble, and there’s no one nearby with a hat pin.
This decision by the Roberts court will not stand. It may stand for a while, but history is being written, day by day, week by week, month by month and year by year. As stated by individuals far more notable than me, the arc of history bends towards justice. Democracy is not static. It must be articulated and re-articulated in every generation. Roe stood for 50 years. Time is on the side of justice. Wrongs have been righted before and they will be again. There's far more threatening our democracy today than this one ruling. We face historical forces hell-bent on rewriting most of a century's worth of progress on civil rights. It remains to the electorate to awaken from it's slumber and take action to demand that the government, all three branches, reflect the will of the people. It won't happen if only a fraction of the public participate. It demands that all of us wake up, show up and cast our votes thoughtfully.
I'm going to have a t-shirt printed with "Our NINTH AMENDMENT Rights shall not be abridged." probably with a woman's power fist.
My name is Earl. Long before the Dixie Chicks stuffed me in a trunk or the TV series about redemption, I was proud to share the name with Earl Warren, a hero of my childhood.
The Supreme Court has not become the least respected part of the federal government. Congress retains that honor. But that it is fallen farther and faster is appalling.
I say this as someone who worked for the federal government for 30 years and was sired by a gentleman who worked for it for 50 years. It is precisely because I am a patriot that I am so appalled by the decisions of the Court majority.
US Constitution Article 3 Section 1 "...The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour," https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artIII_S1_8_1_3/ A little history: " in 1804 Jeffersonian Republicans attempted to remove Supreme Court Chief Justice Samuel Chase, who they viewed as openly partisan and biased against their party.10 The allegations against Chief Justice Chase included that he acted in an "arbitrary, oppressive, and unjust manner" at trial, misapplied the law, and expressed partisan political views to a grand jury.11 The attempt failed, and Congress has never removed a federal judge for disagreement with the law's application or because of difference in political views." It seems high time to remove a Supreme Court Justice or two or three or five for " arbitrary, oppressive and unjust manner" starting with Justice Alito, then Justice Thomas and if the Congress is on a roll Justice Barrett if she has written any opinions along the same lines as Justice Alito's writings. I would think just adding your name to Justice Alito's opinion would be enough. Justice Gorsuch should be removed because his confirmation was in contempt of the Constitution by Majority Leader McConnell and Justice Kavanaugh simply for incompetence. Justices Thomas and Kavanaugh should at a minimum recuse themselves from any judgement concerning women because of sexual harassment allegations that were never permitted to be fully addressed. By ignoring the Ninth Amendment they have made cruelty law. This must be remedied! NOW!
An old New Yorker cartoon by David Sipress on my fridge shows eight of the US's founding fathers gathered around a table reviewing a long document. The man holding the paper says, "Now, should we add something at the end about how wise we are and therefore nothing in here should ever be changed?"
In my reading of history, it is evident to me that the "founders" considered the Constitution to be a "work in progress". A document to be reviewed and improved regularly in an effort to make it more efficient and to reflect the realities of a rapidly changing world. And their world was spinning...
Let us get some perspective here. While the founders had some English precedents to base their work on...they were truly inventing a brand new form of government - creating a new nation from scratch! The idea that they could make it "perfect" and that this "perfect" would endure without adjustment is just naive and frankly, stupid.
Do we look at industry that way? How do we view science or medicine? How about sports performance and the rules that govern it? Are there not to be adjustments and progress? Learning and growing smarter - isn't that a goal?
IMO, this is the central tenet that holds us back from being an intelligent nation. The extreme right uses the Constitution as if it were a document handed down from the Heavens - to be worshiped and interpreted in the same way they use religion - for power. To protect their minority from "others". And oh how devilishly creative they are in that effort. I guess we shouldn't be surprised. Look how they use the Bible to meet their needs - cherry picking references, using the name of God to justify their horrors.
Frankly, I waver between hoping that we can all get along and pull ourselves out of this slimy mess....and just wishing that we could start over again - the Modern Tolerant States of America. Let the others go their own perverted and cruel way.
If the Radical Right does gain complete dominance in the next couple of elections, this may happen more subtly than a series of secessions. In fact it has already begun. States are passing laws that work around the recent decisions of the Supremely Sick Court. Maine, NY and MA are legislating creatively. I think I see a US that will begin to look more like Europe. Loosely united in terms of National Defense - a confederation of nation states that are radically different in their sense of democracy and human rights. It will be left to states, counties, cities and towns to protect their citizens and make whatever efforts we can to save the planet.
And, I, for one, am fed up with distributing money to states that deliberately wallow in educational backwaters and pass laws right out of The Handmaid's Tale.
Like all trumpists, the rogue majority of this court doesn’t really care about the rule of law or the constitution. They only care about what they want and will bastardize any law or article or amendment. They are a court of liars and manipulators.
You are working overtime! We appreciate your brainwork.
Great post. Was this argument raised and briefed in Dobbs?
This is one of the most succinct, excellent statements I have read on this, Robert. I would like to see it, or a shortened version, in newspapers across the country. If we all sent you links to our papers, might you consider submitting?
It really cuts to the heart of the matter.
Exactly. The five radical right justices seem to have decided the ninth amendment doesn’t count, and they’re pretty slippery about the 14th.
Well, Alioto neglected to "mention" that the word "woman" is not even in the Constitution, so his statement that the Constitution does not enumerate the right to an abortion is disingenuous in the least--if not an outright lie of omission. A national association of historians just sent a letter of protest that Alioto ignored/lied about the well-documented, long history of abortion on these shores. Why not include ignoring the 9th Amendment to the list that Alioto ignored/lied about in his decision?
I read an essay somewhere today about the post-legal SCOTUS -- they're now just playing Calvinball
Whether incompetence or willful political disregard, scalia merits shaming, though it appears he has little capacity for shame. Does anyone‘follow the money’ where the justices are concerned?
Dear Robert, Your arguments today and in the preceding newsletter are compelling and devastating. (No sign of covid brain fog!) And I have also been commenting here that the Originalists want to take the Constitution back to when the US was a slaveholding society and women could not vote. How do the Supreme Court justices get away with such shoddy arguments?! They should be impeached. Shouldn't the Dems be aiming for a supermajority in House, Senate, Presidency to enact such a process - or do something effective?