Above the Law?

[NanceGreggs]

We've all been appalled by the idea that a "pResident" and his enablers can be seen as being "above the law" by not being held accountable for their crimes.

But we are now faced with something even more egregious - members of the Supreme Court holding themselves out to be "above the People".

The vast majority of US citizens support Roe v Wade being the law of the land. So by what authority does any SCOTUS justice decide that what The People clearly want can be ignored, dismissed as irrelevant, and ultimately overturned by five people who sit on that court?

What purpose is served by the highest court in the land when that court fails to represent the will of The People it is meant to serve, when that court decides that its own will takes precedence over the demonstrable will of the majority of the nation?

Up until now, I thought that Trump and his cohorts being perceived/treated as being "above the law" was the most outrageous assault on democracy imaginable.

But the SCOTUS has now surpassed that outrage. When five justices are permitted to replace the will of We, The People with their own will, it's time for all citizens to acknowledge that the Supreme Court is no longer a credible institution reflective of democracy. It is now just another collection of people who hold themselves out to be above the law they were allegedly appointed to preserve and protect.

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[J_William_Ryan]

2. Playing Devil's Advocate (literally...)

Republicans would of course respond that the United States isn’t a democracy, that the law often doesn’t reflect the will of the people, and that the purpose of the Constitution is to protect the minority from the ‘tyranny’ of majority rule – particularly when the majority is wrong, which conservatives perceive most Americans to be concerning abortion.

What Republicans won’t do is acknowledge their hypocrisy – when a court rules in a manner conservatives don’t like they whine and complain about tyrants in black robes legislating from the bench ignoring the will of the people.

Conservatives will also trot out the “states’ rights” lie – that if a majority of the residents of a state want abortion to be legal, they can repeal laws banning abortion through the political process.

And if conservatives are to be consistent in their support of overturning Roe, they should also advocate that Loving v. Virginia and Brown v. Board of Education be likewise overturned, in accordance with “states’ rights” dogma.

[Rhiannon12866]

3. Very well said.

And the rest of us have been having the same thought, too - the majority of the country supports this established law, so isn't the court charged with supporting the will of the people? But then the majority of the American people didn't vote for TFG, either, and he's the one responsible for the state of the court.

[2naSalit]

4. K&R

[Joinfortmill]

5. Scary

[True Blue American]

6. The Court lost and

Sense of legitimacy when they produced their one time Bush VS. Gore and stopped legitimate voting. They have gone downhill since then.

4 lied in in their testimony to Congress. Another is married to a traitor of the US. All need to be removed.

It was clear what Alito was when he insulted President Obama by shaking his head during the SOTU speech. Also Ginsburg held on much too long. Obama should have had 2 appointed.

Mitch is to blame for most of this.

[DAngelo136]

7. That's Because They're Conservatives.

Liberals in the United States have been losing political debates to conservatives for a quarter century. In order to start winning again, liberals must answer two simple questions: what is conservatism, and what is wrong with it? As it happens, the answers to these questions are also simple:

Q: What is conservatism?
A: Conservatism is the domination of society by an aristocracy.

Q: What is wrong with conservatism?
A: Conservatism is incompatible with democracy, prosperity, and civilization in general. It is a destructive system of inequality and prejudice that is founded on deception and has no place in the modern world.

Read the rest here:https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/agre/conservatism.html

[MyOwnPeace]

13. Nope, can't do that!

Moscow Mitch didn't decide it, so it can't be done......

[gademocrat7]

10. K&R!

[gab13by13]

11. Everyone has it wrong

when they say a minority party selects the justices. The Federalist Society picks the justices and the minority party implements the choice. American oligarchs spend millions of dollars to get their chosen ones on the court and because of Citizens United we don't even know who is picking the justices.

[JT45242]

12. Brown v board wasn't popular with the people

The SC does not bow to the whims of a popular vote.

The difference here is that it is unpopular and moving things backwards to less freedom. Backwards to a time that most of the rest of the world has moved past.

When the SC is out of step with popular opinion, it has been because it was ahead of the curve, not 40 years or more behind it.

Brown is a good example. It wasn't popular, but it was right and forward thinking.

This is unpopular, wrong, and backward thinking.

The whole life begins at crowd needs to sit down and shut up and learn their own damn history. Overwhelmingly, throughout history, life began with the first breath...the breath of life. Then there was the whole quickening BS, with when the mom can feel kicks around 16 weeks. Throughout history abortion before that point was OK. Even some of the outdated cases, hAcklito cited used that quickening rule. And, had he written abortion illegal after 16 weeks unless life of mother is at risk or nonviable fetus, I could have lived with that. Most abortions are at 16 weeks or earlier, and the few that are later are usually because of medical risk.

I would open up clinics all over with fed money, FU Hyde amendment, and let women make the decision with medical help to make certain that no one was forced into carrying a pregnancy because of delays.

But, I digress. Usually unpopular has been ahead of the curve, but not the Roberts court.

Citizens united... unpopular and undemocratic. Clearly a green light to the oligarchs behind the federalist society.
Gun control roll back... unpopular and dangerous
Gutting the voting rights act... Unpopular and clearly 60 years of reactionary white money from oligarchs fearing the browning of America.

And now, killing Roe.

Next, in no particular order...
Banning all contraception that occurs after fertilization, which is basically everything other than condoms.
Banning same sex marriage.
Recriminalization of homosexuality.
Banning interracial marriage.
Banning gays, or interracial couples from adopting

Returning prayer in school, juries with no minorities,

That is what the federalist society wants. Modern day apartheid.and they will use an unpopular, reactionary court to get it.

[Skittles]

14. the Supreme Court was hacked for that very purpose

they are not ruling for evangelicals