This Supreme Court Term Was All About Undoing Democracy

[marmar]

This Supreme Court Term Was All About Undoing Democracy
The justices made racist gerrymandering easier—and that’s just the start.

PEMA LEVY
2 HOURS AGO


(Mother Jones) In the coming weeks, the Supreme Court will wrap up a consequential term and issue decisions that are expected to undercut bedrock assumptions about each branch of government and create a new balance of powers—one that tips the scales toward an unassailable executive and an all-powerful judiciary. It began on Thursday, as the court gave states new leeway to discriminate against minority voters. The justices may soon add women’s right to healthcare to the list of privileges that a state may deprive its citizens, another step that would turn the clock back to a time when the Constitution viewed states rights as more sacrosanct than the rights of its people. Though the cases at issue address many different issues, a theme punctuating them all is that the Republican-appointed majority appears willing to do serious damage to American democracy.

Two years ago, Americans enjoyed a fundamental right to an abortion. With that right since demolished, last month during oral arguments in a case involving an Idaho abortion ban, several justices contemplated whether states can deprive women not just of elective abortions, but ones necessary to spare their uteruses, kidneys, and even their lives. It was a stunning and rapid reversal of fortune for women in this country—and one that cannot be squared with a healthy democracy.

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The court’s anti-democratic activity this term will likely include a judicial power grab that will undermine Congress’ authority and the functioning of the federal government. In January, the Supreme Court heard a pair of cases that could hand significant new powers to lower federal courts and—ultimately—to the justices themselves. At issue is so-called Chevron Deference, named for the unanimous 1984 decision Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, which stipulates that when a statute is ambiguous, courts defer to an agency’s reasonable interpretation. Staffed with experts and civil servants, the principle behind Chevron is that agencies are best situated to make tough calls in thousands of regulatory decisions every year.

....(snip)....

But disempowering the elected branches of government is the point. Republicans have lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections, but in his four years, Trump was able to reshape much of the federal judiciary. Judges can be a route to minority rule, and ending deference to agencies would allow the conservative movement to wipe out the policies of administrations it doesn’t agree with. Conservatives “are looking to the judiciary vis-a-vis their power, or lack thereof, in the other branches,” says Becker-Cohen. “It’s not just that overruling Chevron would transfer power to judges: it’s that that is specifically the goal.” ...............(more)

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/05/this-supreme-court-term-was-all-about-undoing-democracy/

[William769]

1. K&R

[2naSalit]

2. Exactly.

K&R.

[JohnnyRingo]

3. Now there's a scary bedtime story.

All power to the courts as long as they're republicans and if a state says they gerrymandered for political purposes instead of racism, it's good to go.
The SC is making a power grab right under our noses.

States rights when it benefits the GOP, and federal rule when it doesn't.

Thanx for posting!

[bluestarone]

4. The real scary part is

They DID it, they KNOW they can do it. They are BRAVER everyday that goes by. From now until November they will be fully capable of ANYTHING.

[et tu]

5. the sc is disgraceful

vote blue and speak up- the sc needs to be expanded and
held to a code of ethics. hopefully impeachments for thomas and
alito will follow after president biden wins his second term!