The Supreme Court has morphed into an openly anti-democratic, anti-American institution. In 2000, the Supreme Court produced the historic anti-democratic decision Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98. They ordered the recounting of ballots in Florida to be stopped and declared G.W. Bush the new president. In fact, if all Florida votes had been counted, Bush would have lost Florida and the election [1], but the Republican majority, led by Antonin Scalia and supported by Clarence Thomas, appointed Bush the winner.
The openly partisan nature of the Court was further reinforced when Mitch McConnell refused to allow President Obama to appoint a justice to fill a vacancy in 2016. He waited until Donald Trump took office, and Trump appointed three radical reactionaries to the Court. The outlandish argument McConnell presented for blocking Obama’s appointment (let the voters decide in the upcoming election, 8 months away) was subsequently shown to be completely fraudulent when Ruth Bader Ginsburg died and McConnell rammed through the last-minute appointment of Amy Coney-Barrett just 28 days before the 2020 election.
Now the U.S. is in a desperate Constitutional crisis. A gangster who promises to overthrow our democracy is running for President. His ultimate motivation is to be able to pardon himself for his 91 felonies. A lifelong scofflaw, he escapes justice by delaying, appealing, intimidation, ad nauseam.
The Supreme Court just gave him exactly what he wanted. On Aug. 1, 2023, a grand jury indicted Trump in the District of Columbia U.S. District Court on four charges for his role in attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election through the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
Trump has declared himself immune from prosecution for acts while President. The prosecutor, Jack Smith, petitioned the Supreme Court to decide this crucial issue quickly. They refused, giving Trump his wish, a delay, even though on Feb. 6 this year, a panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that Trump is not immune.
The case now is before the Supreme Court. However, despite the glaring urgency of resolving this case before the election, they have gifted Trump his wildest dream. They delayed starting their hearings for two months. Experts now predict there will be no resolution before the election. This decision directly benefits Trump, and will provide him a lifelong get-out-of-jail-free card if he manages to become President.
There is absolutely no justification for refusing to hear this case immediately. The Supreme Court behavior is flagrantly partisan.
The problem is that the Supreme Court operates with no oversight. They pretend to have rules against corruption, but these are not enforced. Clarence Thomas has received luxurious gifts from Harlan Crow, an ultra-wealthy Republican who has interests in influencing the Court [2]. For Thomas there are no consequences. The Court has been busily overturning laws made by our democratically elected Congress. They no longer even pretend their actions are based on the Constitution.
If they intend to appoint Donald Trump President, who will stop them? Democrats have allowed themselves to be bullied for decades. Al Gore essentially handed Bush the Presidency “to avoid a constitutional crisis,” despite being the actual winner. The Democrats did not demand that Obama’s appointee Merrick Garland be confirmed, as required by the Constitution, instead allowing McConnell to substitute a Republican nominee a year later.
The Supreme Court has become hyper-radicalized, overturning precedent after precedent, forcing their personal beliefs on the entire country. The only obvious recourse is for the Democrats to begin impeachment hearings on Clarence Thomas. His wife openly participated in the Jan. 6 insurrection, but he will never think of recusing himself from any case in which he can help destroy democracy. Clarence Thomas must be impeached.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_v._Gore
Tom DeCoursey is an Oak Park resident.
