The supreme court now serves the billionaire donor class – let’s rein it in

The court has undone rulings to try to unravel Black political power and reverse the progress of the modern US

This court – the governing body intended to safeguard the freedoms that are so crucial to the ideals of civil rights – has been weaponized by an extremist faction. One-third of the supreme court is dangerously political and was appointed by an individual who has repeatedly made clear he seeks to dismantle American democracy. Another three have spent their terms ignoring decades worth of legal precedent and prioritizing the interests of the elite few over the working people, families and communities that drive our nation forward.

As a Maga supermajority, these justices have undone established rulings and legal norms in an attempt to reverse the progress of modern America and to systematically unravel Black political power. Those who pose the greatest threat to our freedoms will not only be on the ballot this November – they will be sitting in robes behind the bench.

All we have to do is look at their track record to see what they’ll do next. For over a decade, extreme justices have issued legal rulings that force an unpopular and radical agenda on to the American people that is rooted in white supremacy.

jordanlund,
@jordanlund@lemmy.world avatar

Absolutely agreed. But how? The Supreme Court is defined by the Constitution so any FUNDAMENTAL and permanent change like age caps or term limits would likely require an Amendment.

An Amendment, at this stage of political discourse, seems impossible. You start with a 290 vote super majority in the House, and the House doesn’t have the will to act on that. They barely pulled it together to eject George Santos.

Following that, you need 67 votes in the Senate and ratification from 38 states.

Congress can change the size of the court, they shrunk the court from 10 to 7 back in 1866 to deny Johnson a pick on the court:

smithsonianmag.com/…/history-stolen-supreme-court…

After Johnson was bounced out and replaced with Grant in 1869, they raised the court size back up to 9.

But, again, that’s going to need to start in the House and this Republican led House has zero interest in changing court composition.

So… what can we do?

Well… We need to revert the House back to Democratic control by getting rid of every Republican we can.

By the same token, we need to expand the Democratic lead in the Senate.

But most importantly, the two oldest judges on the court right now are Thomas and Alito. When they retire or die, there HAS to be a Democratic President able to replace them.

Thomas is 75, Alito is 73. By the time '28 comes around they will be 79 and 77. Whoever is elected in '28 will likely have a good shot at replacing both of them. Failing that, we need a D in '32 as well.

But more than that, the next three behind them are Sotomayor, Roberts, and Kagen. So now, it’s not just flipping the court, but maintaining the flip. Democratic Presidents through '40? Is that even possible?

Rivalarrival,

The size of the court is not set by the constitution. We can eliminate the fixed size. Instead of 9 justices, we appoint 1 additional justice in November of the first and third years of each presidential term. Dead justices are not replaced.

With the average SCOTUS term currently around 28 years, the court size will increase from 9 to an average of at least 14. Without pressure for politically-motivated retirement, the average size will likely increase to about 18.

The larger size of the court increases its political stability. The fixed appointment schedule limits the lasting influence of a particular president. The timing is as far as possible between presidential and midterm elections, minimizing the influence of politics on the appointment and confirmation process.

There’s plenty of room within the constitution to reform the court. We just need to decide to do it.

jordanlund,
@jordanlund@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah, that’s what I’m saying, Congress can and has decreased and increased the size of the court at will…

The problem is THIS Congress. They aren’t going to want to overturn this court.

The easy fix would be “We’re shrinking the court from 9 to 5. Last 4 justices added? Goodbye!” But that would still leave Thomas and Alito on one side, Sotomayor and Kagan on the other, with Roberts as the swing vote.

K1nsey6,
@K1nsey6@lemmy.world avatar

Every aspect of our government serves the donor class, as it was designed to do.

Zuberi,

“now” sent me lmao

This is a rage bait article title, but I suppose no surprise from the opinion section of the guardian.

NatakuNox,
@NatakuNox@lemmy.world avatar

Now? always has

downpunxx,
downpunxx avatar

lol, oh really? you don't say. go you one better, not only does it serve the "billionaire donor class" lol, it serves, now constituted after trump's stacking, post civil war american re-emergent christofascist white supremacy. "billionaire donor class" as if that's the group we should be most concerned with, it's the billionaire Christofascist white supremiscists that are tanking us, fuck sake people, keep your eye on the fucking ball here.

bigboismith,

Love the “Bad” sign in the thumbnail

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