I actually think it is hilarious that Republicans who are now calling for the expansion of the court and are now against originalist / textualist interpretations of the Constitution... ( I agree with Robert that it should be 21 or 27 justices btw). For examples, Mike Johnson said at a press conference yesterday that the Justice's were too textual in their interpretation of the 14th amendment. Which I find ironic considering that conservatives used to constantly say they only wanted textual / originalist interpretations of laws.
Now these Right Wing people are advocating for a dissolution of the Union and calling ACB a DEI hire even though she has:
- Voted to get rid of Roe v. Wade.
- Voted to get rid of Chevron.
- Gave President Trump immunity from prosecution.
- Blocked states from removing President Trump from the ballot.
- Ended affirmative action.
- Ended temporary protected status for Haitians and Syrians.
- Allowed states to prohibit transitioning for minors
- Empowered the President to fire appointed commissioners of independent agencies.
- Ended the Lemon rule and expanded religious liberty.
- Expanded gun rights.
- Ended majority-minority districts.
- Gave Congress the power to limit mail-in balloting.
Yet, Republicans are angry at her for not ending birthright citizenship, and are calling to pack the court and resort to openly fascist ideas. Absolutely fucking insane. These are bad faith people that have such an overwhelming need to be illiberal and racist that we need to stop assuming they mean well or have good intentions. These snakes will always turn on and eat each other, this is part of the reason why fascism always fails because they always seek an out group to blame and you cannot compromise or make good deals with bad people. Trump was against the Housing Bill the other day because it was "bipartisan". Too many Americans are not paying attention to what is happening or think we are still living in normal times.
Not enough can be said to excoriate sexual predator Kavanaugh, his opinions are only out ranked by those of the late Justice Scalia & the current Justice Thomas for convoluted “logic,” complete lack of legal coherence & just wrong conclusions. & I won’t comment on the so-called “Originalist” justifications for their reactionary reasoning.
Bad. Very bad & bad for the country. Only Alito is worse.
Yes. Let us petition Yale Law School to revoke his degree.
21.
That’s the magic number.
Elsewhere I have commented,
“We are now a large country, with a complex society & a complex economy. We need a larger court.”
We also need an iron clad Code of Conduct. With teeth.
I am with you on having 27 Justices on the Supreme Court. Another thing I want to see is the exact process that Mike Johnson fears: Congressional hearings on every last one of the miscreants who have tried to wreck this country-from Elon Musk to Matt Walsh-and including Donald J. Trump, Sr.
The other ruling that deserves more attention is the reactionary court's decision on trans girls/women is sports. Parker Malloy wrote an excellent article on her Substack newsletter entitled "Reasonable Concerns". I highly recommend it: I learned a lot about what this decision means not only for transgender athletes, but for the transgender community as a whole. I will admit to being one of the silent majority on this issue, not realizing how it affects everyday people in their everyday lives. I plan to change that by learning more and speaking up, starting with my weekly protest sign on Friday that will say "SUPPORT THE TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY" I know it's not much, but it's a start. It is a sin that the Court and this administration are persecuting a community that just wants to be who they are.
Most of us want to win the elections. The central winning kitchen issues are affordability (notably gas prices), housing, medical costs, and safety from crime. The Repubs really hope that Dems will focus on "cultural" issues, notably transgender arguments which are unfortunately relatively not a "useful" topic for us to WIN, even though it is right. Likewise debates about Gaza, Ukraine, Iran, Democracy principles, and much more. Let's stay with the central focus to win, and THEN absolutely straighten out the mess.
I must say that I have not been a fan of expanding the court until yesterday. And now I'm afraid we won't be able to get that incredibly important change made in time!! This should be the underlying reason to get the vote out this November and in 2028. I'm sure I'm one of millions of folks who are just figuring this out. But on another note - "(Again, Yale. Law degree. Kavanaugh. Revoke.)" made me laugh out loud!!! Well done, Mr. H :)
I am also hearing more people talking about expanding the court. GOOD! My husband says he heard Professor Lawrence Tribe (ret.)(Harvard, I believe) endorse the idea a couple of nights ago on MS Now. I didn’t see it but it was on Lawrence O’Donnell. I’ve been talking to hubs about this idea for a while and I think he was surprised to hear it from Tribe - now he likes the idea too. 🙃
This is such an important post. I was part of a group called “Expand the Court” about 7 yrs ago. We foresaw the problem back then. But no one listened & responded with the exact same things you cited.
I desperately HOPE that the expansion comes but unless the Dems are pushed, I fear it won’t happen. They’ll need a lot of pressure. Many letters & calls.
Kavanaugh wrote that mass illegal immigration was “a new circumstance” the framers of the 14th Amendment “could not have fully anticipated” in 1868. Semi-automatic weapons could also not have been aniticipated, yet they will not apply the same logic to the 2nd Amendment. Hypocrisy is too mild word for what is going on here. It is contortionism.
I'm glad people are getting serious about expanding SCOTUS and implementing reforms, but it still terrifies me that we may never be more than a red wave presidential election away from a Trump / Putin-esque figure turning us into Christian Nationalist Oligarchy.
Another excellent Robert post. My take: I love what Robert wrote about the 14th Amendment case and I have read other analyses. As a lawyer I also love what Robert writes about Yale Law School revoking Kavanaugh's degree. He is a shameful disgrace to the profession and I am an attorney. Any legitimate law professor would excoriate any student who came up with his nonsense. The right decision is so clear. I appreciate the comments of other judges Robert shared. Stern is correct. The margin is a scandal. The case should not even have been taken by the Supreme Court because there really wasn't any question about the correctness of the lower court's holding. We definitely need SCOTUS reform. I loved Justice Brown's analysis and slap down of Thomas. (Is he really a black man?) The campaign finance decision is just horrendous but fits in with Citizen's United, of course. Billionaire power...NO! Kavanaugh again is so off! He is truly unqualified. There should not be discrimination agains Trans rights. I don't have an answer if there is inequity when a trans woman athlete is competing against women. Robert's plan for reforming is best. The reasons all make sense. It has to be done correctly, as he points out.
Thank you once again Robert B Hubbell for an outstanding post on these issues. I have answered elsewhere that I totally agree on REVOKING the LAW degree of Mr Kavanaugh! He's been a fence sitter on many issues as I remember. But this is the worst. I too expected a resounding 9-0 decision. Yet I am most appalled by Thomas. Does he really HATE all the people of color? Does he not look in the mirror and SEE he is not one of the defeated Confederacy WHITES? Sometimes I give him the grace of sinking into a near demented old age where the only thing sustaining him is his ANGER and HATE! But that is NO reason to visit these tirades of angry words on the people of this country, of all colors and races, who have honored the laws and disrespect all of us as he does. My story of reference is having lived in the DEEP SOUTH until the age of 12 despite being born a YANKEE (NY!). And living there before 1965 and those better justified laws. And Alito whose forbears as Italians who were perhaps mistreated as they arrived here? What is his or the others' perspectives on being born here? DISRESPECT for settled law is the whole cloth of these right leaner's. Add as many as we need to send their opinions into the 'dustbin of history' forever! I want to live to see and KNOW it .
Retirement age limits, and term limits too. If AGE has addled their faculties, then even more reason to be limited by greater numbers. And that SHADOW DOCKET has to become VISIBLE. We the People demand it.
Just beware that the far right has the same idea, however, to pack the court with illiberal, MAGA supporting justices that will follow the current majority script. If, somehow, Republicans retain a triumvirate with the House, Senate and Presidency in the mid-terms, you can expect them to try to complete the overthrow of the judicial system.
"It's been a rough week." Absolutely. My husband and I are 70 years old, have had lots of privileges, and now have the privilege of fighting for our country.
is way beyond critical and essential for a ton of reasons. The make up of the Supreme Court is one very immediate reason. I believe Thomas and/ or Alito will retire before Trump leaves office. One or both retirements create a dangerous
majority block on the Court. Hence, bye bye 14th Amendment and other manipulative assaults to our Constitution, Rule of Law and fragile democracy.😳
So getting out the vote and having resounding Democrat election victories is crucial to counteract the piles of GOP funds that will be poured into GOP candidates. Everything is dependent on our votes!!!!
Don't forget that there are many shades of Democrats because we are a BIG TENT party and that INDEPENDENTS who vote with us more frequently may be the alternative to another GOP seated MAGAITE! We need tot be so big a majority that it gives the administration even more apoplexy ass they contemplate their futures.
Andrew Weissmann will also need convincing regarding court expansion. I am wondering if we need to start putting together a list.
I actually think it is hilarious that Republicans who are now calling for the expansion of the court and are now against originalist / textualist interpretations of the Constitution... ( I agree with Robert that it should be 21 or 27 justices btw). For examples, Mike Johnson said at a press conference yesterday that the Justice's were too textual in their interpretation of the 14th amendment. Which I find ironic considering that conservatives used to constantly say they only wanted textual / originalist interpretations of laws.
Now these Right Wing people are advocating for a dissolution of the Union and calling ACB a DEI hire even though she has:
- Voted to get rid of Roe v. Wade.
- Voted to get rid of Chevron.
- Gave President Trump immunity from prosecution.
- Blocked states from removing President Trump from the ballot.
- Ended affirmative action.
- Ended temporary protected status for Haitians and Syrians.
- Allowed states to prohibit transitioning for minors
- Empowered the President to fire appointed commissioners of independent agencies.
- Ended the Lemon rule and expanded religious liberty.
- Expanded gun rights.
- Ended majority-minority districts.
- Gave Congress the power to limit mail-in balloting.
Yet, Republicans are angry at her for not ending birthright citizenship, and are calling to pack the court and resort to openly fascist ideas. Absolutely fucking insane. These are bad faith people that have such an overwhelming need to be illiberal and racist that we need to stop assuming they mean well or have good intentions. These snakes will always turn on and eat each other, this is part of the reason why fascism always fails because they always seek an out group to blame and you cannot compromise or make good deals with bad people. Trump was against the Housing Bill the other day because it was "bipartisan". Too many Americans are not paying attention to what is happening or think we are still living in normal times.
Not enough can be said to excoriate sexual predator Kavanaugh, his opinions are only out ranked by those of the late Justice Scalia & the current Justice Thomas for convoluted “logic,” complete lack of legal coherence & just wrong conclusions. & I won’t comment on the so-called “Originalist” justifications for their reactionary reasoning.
Bad. Very bad & bad for the country. Only Alito is worse.
Yes. Let us petition Yale Law School to revoke his degree.
21.
That’s the magic number.
Elsewhere I have commented,
“We are now a large country, with a complex society & a complex economy. We need a larger court.”
We also need an iron clad Code of Conduct. With teeth.
Staggered 18 yr terms. 1 term only.
Resist
Avance la Lucha
I am with you on having 27 Justices on the Supreme Court. Another thing I want to see is the exact process that Mike Johnson fears: Congressional hearings on every last one of the miscreants who have tried to wreck this country-from Elon Musk to Matt Walsh-and including Donald J. Trump, Sr.
I recommend this interesting article by a Georgetown law professor about the Supreme Court’s decisions.
https://apple.news/AOSqGZ9rVSr29LjwZdVwWWA
The other ruling that deserves more attention is the reactionary court's decision on trans girls/women is sports. Parker Malloy wrote an excellent article on her Substack newsletter entitled "Reasonable Concerns". I highly recommend it: I learned a lot about what this decision means not only for transgender athletes, but for the transgender community as a whole. I will admit to being one of the silent majority on this issue, not realizing how it affects everyday people in their everyday lives. I plan to change that by learning more and speaking up, starting with my weekly protest sign on Friday that will say "SUPPORT THE TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY" I know it's not much, but it's a start. It is a sin that the Court and this administration are persecuting a community that just wants to be who they are.
Most of us want to win the elections. The central winning kitchen issues are affordability (notably gas prices), housing, medical costs, and safety from crime. The Repubs really hope that Dems will focus on "cultural" issues, notably transgender arguments which are unfortunately relatively not a "useful" topic for us to WIN, even though it is right. Likewise debates about Gaza, Ukraine, Iran, Democracy principles, and much more. Let's stay with the central focus to win, and THEN absolutely straighten out the mess.
I must say that I have not been a fan of expanding the court until yesterday. And now I'm afraid we won't be able to get that incredibly important change made in time!! This should be the underlying reason to get the vote out this November and in 2028. I'm sure I'm one of millions of folks who are just figuring this out. But on another note - "(Again, Yale. Law degree. Kavanaugh. Revoke.)" made me laugh out loud!!! Well done, Mr. H :)
I am also hearing more people talking about expanding the court. GOOD! My husband says he heard Professor Lawrence Tribe (ret.)(Harvard, I believe) endorse the idea a couple of nights ago on MS Now. I didn’t see it but it was on Lawrence O’Donnell. I’ve been talking to hubs about this idea for a while and I think he was surprised to hear it from Tribe - now he likes the idea too. 🙃
This is such an important post. I was part of a group called “Expand the Court” about 7 yrs ago. We foresaw the problem back then. But no one listened & responded with the exact same things you cited.
I desperately HOPE that the expansion comes but unless the Dems are pushed, I fear it won’t happen. They’ll need a lot of pressure. Many letters & calls.
Kavanaugh wrote that mass illegal immigration was “a new circumstance” the framers of the 14th Amendment “could not have fully anticipated” in 1868. Semi-automatic weapons could also not have been aniticipated, yet they will not apply the same logic to the 2nd Amendment. Hypocrisy is too mild word for what is going on here. It is contortionism.
I'm glad people are getting serious about expanding SCOTUS and implementing reforms, but it still terrifies me that we may never be more than a red wave presidential election away from a Trump / Putin-esque figure turning us into Christian Nationalist Oligarchy.
Another excellent Robert post. My take: I love what Robert wrote about the 14th Amendment case and I have read other analyses. As a lawyer I also love what Robert writes about Yale Law School revoking Kavanaugh's degree. He is a shameful disgrace to the profession and I am an attorney. Any legitimate law professor would excoriate any student who came up with his nonsense. The right decision is so clear. I appreciate the comments of other judges Robert shared. Stern is correct. The margin is a scandal. The case should not even have been taken by the Supreme Court because there really wasn't any question about the correctness of the lower court's holding. We definitely need SCOTUS reform. I loved Justice Brown's analysis and slap down of Thomas. (Is he really a black man?) The campaign finance decision is just horrendous but fits in with Citizen's United, of course. Billionaire power...NO! Kavanaugh again is so off! He is truly unqualified. There should not be discrimination agains Trans rights. I don't have an answer if there is inequity when a trans woman athlete is competing against women. Robert's plan for reforming is best. The reasons all make sense. It has to be done correctly, as he points out.
Thank you once again Robert B Hubbell for an outstanding post on these issues. I have answered elsewhere that I totally agree on REVOKING the LAW degree of Mr Kavanaugh! He's been a fence sitter on many issues as I remember. But this is the worst. I too expected a resounding 9-0 decision. Yet I am most appalled by Thomas. Does he really HATE all the people of color? Does he not look in the mirror and SEE he is not one of the defeated Confederacy WHITES? Sometimes I give him the grace of sinking into a near demented old age where the only thing sustaining him is his ANGER and HATE! But that is NO reason to visit these tirades of angry words on the people of this country, of all colors and races, who have honored the laws and disrespect all of us as he does. My story of reference is having lived in the DEEP SOUTH until the age of 12 despite being born a YANKEE (NY!). And living there before 1965 and those better justified laws. And Alito whose forbears as Italians who were perhaps mistreated as they arrived here? What is his or the others' perspectives on being born here? DISRESPECT for settled law is the whole cloth of these right leaner's. Add as many as we need to send their opinions into the 'dustbin of history' forever! I want to live to see and KNOW it .
Retirement age limits, and term limits too. If AGE has addled their faculties, then even more reason to be limited by greater numbers. And that SHADOW DOCKET has to become VISIBLE. We the People demand it.
Just beware that the far right has the same idea, however, to pack the court with illiberal, MAGA supporting justices that will follow the current majority script. If, somehow, Republicans retain a triumvirate with the House, Senate and Presidency in the mid-terms, you can expect them to try to complete the overthrow of the judicial system.
PERISH that thought ever! We MUST prevail in the HOUSE and SENATE in November. We can do this!
"It's been a rough week." Absolutely. My husband and I are 70 years old, have had lots of privileges, and now have the privilege of fighting for our country.
A Democrat win in ‘26 and “28
is way beyond critical and essential for a ton of reasons. The make up of the Supreme Court is one very immediate reason. I believe Thomas and/ or Alito will retire before Trump leaves office. One or both retirements create a dangerous
majority block on the Court. Hence, bye bye 14th Amendment and other manipulative assaults to our Constitution, Rule of Law and fragile democracy.😳
So getting out the vote and having resounding Democrat election victories is crucial to counteract the piles of GOP funds that will be poured into GOP candidates. Everything is dependent on our votes!!!!
Don't forget that there are many shades of Democrats because we are a BIG TENT party and that INDEPENDENTS who vote with us more frequently may be the alternative to another GOP seated MAGAITE! We need tot be so big a majority that it gives the administration even more apoplexy ass they contemplate their futures.