Tonight, an extraordinary order, opinion, and dissent make explicit that the ongoing cold Second American Civil War is raging at the U.S. Supreme Court, as it is throughout the U.S. 1/ #LawFedi
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@heidilifeldman This is beyond heartbreaking. In other news-
May 4 is Liberation Day for many European countries. A celebration of defeating the Nazis not so long ago.
@heidilifeldman
This thread is powerful poetry. Thank you.
@heidilifeldman
Supreme Court basically ruling in favor of canceling an election. They might call it "postponing" but with courts like this, how could they be motivated to start the elections up again?
On the heels of the awful substantive Supreme Court ruling and opinion in _Callais_, Louisiana’s governor sought to cancel an ongoing election, House primaries, which had begun before the decision was handed down. He ordered cancellation even before the Callais judgment was made final, “certified”. There is a Supreme Court rule which delays certification for 32 days, allowing time for a party to request rehearing. 2/
There are almost no times when the Supreme Court has not followed this rule. But the Callais plaintiffs applied to the Court to have the judgment certified right now and tonight the Court ordered this to happen, trying to quash ongoing lawsuits filed to prevent Louisiana’s governor from cancelling the election, a result in no way required by Callais itself. 3/
@heidilifeldman They make me nauseous. Unconscionable.
All of this has happened on the shadow docket. So the Roberts Court has ok’d election cancellation without merits briefing, oral argument, etc.
This would be extraordinary and pernicious enough. But because Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented and pointed out how exceptional and dangerous the Court’s order is, Alito, joined by Gorsuch and Thomas, wrote an opinion basically calling her uppity. 4/
@heidilifeldman Sean Casten had some interesting recommendations for things Congress could do now if it flips for the midterms that sounded to me like a strong platform for Democrats, namely using the power of the purse to refuse to fund the court in various ways until they institute serious ethical reforms and get rid of the shadow docket. It’s not the long-term fix that will take time to accomplish, but it IS using Congress as a check on a run-away SCOTUS.
@heidilifeldman Most of SCOTUS needs to be fumigated like the "vermin" they are.
You can read the order, opinion, and dissent at https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25a1197_097c.pdf.
You may want to read Jackson’s dissent, the second document in the file first. 5/
Jackson lays out the Supreme Court rule and relevant precedents to explain that the Court’s short-circuiting of its own procedures has “principles give way to power.”
She writes forcefully but in an even, professional way. 6/
But Sam Alito just cannot handle a dissent from Brown that explains that he and the other Roberts Court judges who went along with him are nakedly using their privilege and authority to advantage the Republican Fascist Party and its white supremacist agenda. 7/
Taking the greatest umbrage, Alito starts, “The dissent in this suit levels charges that cannot go un-answered.”
What has so disturbed him? Jackson telling it like it is. 8/
Alito: “The dissent goes on to claim that our decision represents an unprincipled use of power. … That is a ground-
less and utterly irresponsible charge”.
Translation: How dare she? 9/
Finally, Alito concludes by chastising Jackson: “It is the dissent’s rhetoric that lacks restraint.” 10/
There you have it. In one exchange, central issues being fought in a so-far cold Second American Civil War are on full display at the Supreme Court. The issue of white supremacy is of course at play because tonight’s developments relate to Callais. But in Alito’s response to Jackson is an equally central issue: patriarchy. 11/
Alito simply cannot stand that Jackson has spoken as his equal and professional peer and questioned his ethics, integrity, practice of the craft of adjudication. He’s set off, in a way that most women I know will recognize. 12/
