Heather Cox Richardson: The Role of Dark Money in our Justice System

[Nevilledog]

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BillMoyers.com
@BillMoyers
AG #MerrickGarland has launched an investigation into the Federalist Society and special-interest money in our courts, and how the system currently benefits the big-money donors behind the Republicans.

The Role of Dark Money in our Justice System
Have our courts been purchased? New AG Merrick Garland is on the case.
billmoyers.com
11:20 AM · Mar 19, 2021

https://billmoyers.com/story/big-money-in-our-justice-system/


Today, I’m watching some stories that have immediate significance, but also indicate larger trends.

First, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has asked the Justice Department, now overseen by Attorney General Merrick Garland, to look into the unusual circumstances through which Brett Kavanaugh’s large debts disappeared before his nomination to the Supreme Court. While this question is important to understanding Kavanaugh’s position on our Supreme Court, it is more than that: it is part of a larger investigation into the role of big money in our justice system.

Last May, Whitehouse, along with Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), released a report titled “Captured Courts: The GOP’s Big Money Assault On The Constitution, Our Independent Judiciary, And The Rule of Law.” It outlined how the “Conservative Legal Movement has rewritten federal law to favor the rich and powerful,” how the Federalist Society and special-interest money control our courts, and how the system benefits the big-money donors behind the Republicans.

On March 10, Whitehouse began hearings to investigate the role of big money in Supreme Court nominations and decisions. Aside from Chief Justice John Roberts, every Supreme Court justice named by a Republican president has ties to the Federalist Society, a group that advocates an originalist interpretation of the Constitution, which prohibits the use of the courts to regulate business or to defend civil rights.

So while it is the Kavanaugh story that is getting media attention, the longer story is about whether our courts have been bought.

*snip*

[SheltieLover]

1. Yaaaaaay!

I've been waiting...

SCOTUS Kennedy comes to mind!

[crickets]

2. Excellent. K&R for visibility.