exemplified in its decision to overturn the constitutional right to #abortion on the basis of a vague & inconsistent standard of “text, history & tradition.”

& there is the hubris of ChiefJustice #JohnRoberts, who, the #legal scholar EricJSegall writes, has “led the court to coerce both state & federal govts to abide by his personal preferences, whether or not positive legal sources supported those decisions & at times even when prior #law …clearly did not justify the chief’s opinions & votes.”

It is a testament to #JohnRoberts’s skill as a #politician that he is often viewed as a modest & moderate #judicial institutionalist when, in fact, he has used his position on the court to spearhead a remarkable campaign of #judicial activism. In cases like #ShelbyCountyVHolder in 2013 & the more recent #WestVirginiaVEPA, Roberts all but deployed novel constitutional doctrines (“equal state sovereignty” & the “major questions doctrine”) to achieve his preferred results.

#law #SCOTUS

In just the last term, the Roberts court has rewritten the #14thAmendment to keep Donald #Trump on the presidential ballot as well as radically expanded presidential #power in direct contravention of the history, text & structure of the #Constitution.

We have, in other words, a #corrupt & #lawless court that, led by its #conservative majority, has put itself above the constitutional system as the exclusive arbiter of constitutional meaning.

#law #SCOTUS #ActivistCourt #CourtReform

The #Constitution means whatever the #JohnRoberts court says it means, even when that meaning conflicts w/the basic principles of American #democracy.

It is against this backdrop of institutional #dysfunction & #judicial arrogance that President #Biden, fresh from his decision to leave the campaign trail in favor of his vice president, introduced his three-point package of #SupremeCourt reforms.

#law #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ExtremistCourt #CorruptCourt #DarkMoney #CourtReform

…#Biden’s proposal is worthwhile. Not because there is a good chance of it becoming #law —important constitutional questions aside, there is almost no chance that #Democrats could elect the overwhelming congressional majorities needed to pass the package into law—but because it represents something almost novel in contemporary American #politics: a willingness to challenge #SCOTUS as a #political entity & to offer, in response, an alternative constitutional vision.

#ActivistCourt #PartisanCourt

#Biden’s proposal is a declaration that #SCOTUS is wrong about the #Constitution, that it has abused its power & influence & that it needs to be checked & balanced. He is, of course, far from the first president to do this — Abraham Lincoln & Franklin Roosevelt come to mind — but he is the first modern #Democratic president to recognize that the court as constituted is a major obstacle to the party’s ability to #govern in accordance w/its popular mandate.

#law #ActivistCourt #CourtReform

Whether or not #Biden’s reform plan can pass, it is important that he has planted a flag in opposition to #SCOTUS — a marker for the next generation of #Democrats to work from. And VP #KamalaHarris …has already said that she will pick up the standard if elected in November.

“There is a clear crisis of confidence facing the #SupremeCourt as its fairness has been called into question after numerous #ethics scandals & decision after decision overturning longstanding #precedent,” Harris said…

#law