Heidi Li FeldmanFolks here will notice that I’m less frequently detailing lower court opinions that attempt to stop the Trump regime’s lawless actions. This is because enough time has passed for enough appeals to reach the U.S. Supreme Court for U.S. to know that no matter how carefully a lower court judge explains and supports her rulings, the Supreme Court will act as lawlessly as the Trump executive. 1/ #LawFedi
This is a tragedy for the U.S. federal judiciary. It is not unexpected. 2/
From the outset, we knew that certain justices were wholly and irrevocably in the tank for Trump. I put Robert’s very close to this camp but thought his desire to preserve his standing with federal district court judges and lower federal appellate judges *might* temper the fealty he displayed when he wrote the majority opinion in the ignominious Trump v. United States. 3/
Had Roberts more commitment to rule of law and less regard for Republican Fascism, he might have been able to peel off Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett occasionally and get them to vote with Sotomayor and Jackson and sometimes Kagan. But it is clear that he has no interest in this role and the other far right justices definitely don’t. 4/
I know that brave lower court judges will continue to write well-reasoned important memoranda in support of their correct and significant decisions. I will continue to commend their efforts and sometimes explain them. But for all their skill and integrity, they won’t be able to prevent the worst effect of the Supreme Court’s perfidy: plaintiffs’ lawyers will stop bringing cases they clearly will lose on appeal. 5/
The lawyers who represent the plaintiffs in the cases against the Trump regime do not have the funds or the staff to litigate every instance of the regime’s lawlessness. They also do not want to litigate cases that will only serve to give the Supreme Court the chance to hand down a lawless diktat as though it should be treated as precedent. 6/
So most plaintiffs’ lawyers will become ever more selective and careful in who they represent and the issues they put before the courts. This is natural and understandable. But it is also frightening. The actions of the U.S. Supreme Court play a direct role in sharply increasing the prospect of a hot civil war in the United States. 7/
Without meaningful recourse to a judiciary headed by a court committed to rule of law, law cannot well serve its central function in a pluralist constitutional democracy like the one the U.S. had become by the early 2000s. Law in such a society just is the alternative to violence as the mechanism for resolving very deep conflicts among people with incompatible conceptions of the good. 8/
Of course, at the bottom, the law in such a society cannot be itself independent of every conception of the good: it has to be committed to basic tenets of pluralist constitutional democracy: no perpetual power grab by one group; actual representativeness in voting; commitment to basic liberties for each and all; a refusal to accept executive dictatorship. We know that Trump and his cabinet and the Republicans in Congress do not care about this conception of the good. 9/
Now we also know that a solid majority of the current U.S. Supreme Court also rejects it, refuses to adjudicate with any fidelity to it. This isn’t the first time a U.S. Supreme Court has eschewed the very basis of American law. But today’s Court’s lack of commitment rivals the most horrid of those other occasions. And when the Supreme Court is so debased, it is very hard to restore pluralist constitutional democracy without dreadful violence. 10/
I say none of this lightly. I fervently hope for and work toward the restoration of pluralist constitutional democracy and rule of law without even more and worse violence than anything like what we are already seeing. But I am a realist, and I know that with the collapse of the Supreme Court as a meaningful judicial institution, the work is going to be that much harder. 11/11
Grassroots JoeMy one hope, since dashed on the rocks of the MAGA SCOTUS majority, was that they would act to preserve their own positions of power.
But every time they give Trump and his regime the OK to ignore a piece of the law and the Constitution they move another irreversible step to irrelevance.
At some point Trump will rightly conclude he need not obey any court, including SCOTUS.
At that point, will the people and the governors of solidly blue states band together to say no?
amalia@joeinwynnewood @heidilifeldman How about they band together now? What's stopping them from doing that?
To a degree the state governments have been working together via their Attorney Generals for months, but stepping that up to coordinating what hasn't happened in 165 years, hasn't been remotely needed and would be an earth shattering decision isn't going to happen until things get much worse and there's no guarantee it will.
What's stopping them is the violence that could be unleashed. No one will take such a step without a lot of careful thought and consideration.
@joeinwynnewood @heidilifeldman I agree with you to some extent. However, some action needs to be taken against all this.
Absolutely, and there is a lot of organizing work being done, certainly with more needed.
Indivisible is running a 3 part training starting 7/16 to facilitate this that everyone who could help organize their networks are encouraged to participate in - https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/803953/
One Million Rising: Strategic Non-Cooperation to Fight Authoritarianism · No Kings
Across the country, authoritarian forces are getting bolder and more dangerous. Trump and his allies are not hiding their agenda: mass deportations, rollbacks of civil rights, weaponized courts, and full-scale attacks on our democracy. We don’t have to wait until it’s too late. We can stop this. But it’ll take all of us—not just on single days of mass action, but through sustained organizing in our communities. That’s why this summer, we’re launching One Million Rising—a national effort to train one million people in the strategic logic and practice of non-cooperation, as well as the basics of community organizing and campaign design. This is how we build people power that can’t be ignored. You’re invited to join us—and lead. Let’s build a force bigger than fear and louder than hate. Let’s get ready. Let’s get organized. Let’s stop Trump. **Session 1: The Moment & Your Mission - July 16** Get oriented to making meaning of this moment and the role you can play in coordinated strategic action. **Session 2: How to Make it Happen - July 30** Learn not just our strategy, but how you can lead a discussion with others and get them on board with taking action in your community. You'll host your first community resistance gathering after this session, before our next session. **Session 3: What Now? - August 13** You'll be onboarded to basic campaign design and learn how to implement it locally as well as get plugged into our next national campaign work. Your second community resistance gathering will move this action forward. Sign up for all 3 sessions to get the most out of this experience. Watch it live with a friend in person, and get ready now to host your own community resistance gatherings after the second and third sessions. This is how we get to 1 million!
Deborah Elizabeth FinnThe most effective strategy for getting rid of an authoritarian regime is fostering division among its leaders and supporters.
"Whichever side...is able to divide the opponent from its main pillars of support will ultimately succeed."
So perhaps we should dedicate our efforts to doing that?
Based on what I heard at an Indivisible leaders call today, that is part of the plan.