The stench of corruption grows around the Supreme Court

[babylonsister]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/10/2180310/-The-stench-of-corruption-grows-around-the-Supreme-Court


The stench of corruption grows around the Supreme Court
Monday, July 10, 2023 at 5:10:19p EDT
Joan McCarter


There’s blood in the water around the Supreme Court now and investigative journalists are swarming, finding all the fodder they need for a scandal in the form of Justice Clarence Thomas alone. The latest addition to the Thomas corruption chronicles is The New York Times’ exposé on his long-standing membership in the Horatio Alger Association, one that netted him a whole new raft of generous, wealthy friends spending lavishly to provide him a luxurious lifestyle. As the circle of Thomas’ rich and powerful associates grows, so grows the likelihood of conflicts of interest for him on the court and the likelihood the media will be able to dig them up. Each new discovery will only deepen the crisis in the court and generate more momentum for reform.

snip//

The appearance of corruption on the court from Thomas alone is enough to spur calls for reform. Justice Samuel Alito has ethical questions of his own given that his wealthy benefactors definitely have regular business before the court. Add in the obvious partisan politics of the majority, and you have to wonder what the hell is wrong with Chief Justice John Roberts, letting all this continue on his watch.

It’s gotten so blatant that groups on the left that have been afraid to take on the court before, fearing blowback when they go before it, are joining together to demand court reform. Organizations and labor unions including Planned Parenthood, SEIU, AFT, NEA, and NARAL have created a coalition called United for Democracy specifically to push court reform. They are also demanding formal congressional investigations and hearings into Supreme Court corruption.

“Every time this Supreme Court issues another extremist decision, the Court loses legitimacy, judicial norms wither, our freedoms shrink, corporate power grows, our democracy fades—and the American people pay the price,” the coalition said in a letter to congressional leaders. In the wake of recent revelations of egregious impropriety by justices and this latest disastrous Supreme Court term, Congress must step up to conduct robust investigations and coordinated formal hearings into corruption, dark money, and interest-driven judicial activism at the Supreme Court in order to inform legislative action to bring true transparency and accountability to this broken court.

We’re at a breaking point for the court. The media sees a very rich target for stories, and they’re not going to stop looking now. There will be more revelations about what they’re getting up to. Confidence in the court will continue to plummet as the stories are published and the ramifications of the court’s extremist decisions ripple outward.

Should the trifecta be restored in 2025, a Democratic Congress and president are not going to have a choice on court reform. It’s case closed. And they had better start getting ready for it now.

[BOSSHOG]

1. Six treasonous bastards on the Supreme court

No self respect, no self esteem, no integrity, apparently no free will, no patriotism. But they do have a collective chip on their shoulder. They are the Supreme Court after all and no one should dare embarrass them by finding and telling the truth. Irony?

Six treasonous bastards. And three angels of Justice. God Bless those three.

[Solly Mack]

2. K&R

Sending you more hugs.



Thinking of you.

[dalton99a]

3. Kick

[Upthevibe]

4. Kick. N/T

[DFW]

5. Six corrupt, throughly ideological "justices."

Welcome to the United States Extreme Snort (ESOTUS).

[AndyS]

6. When it finally shakes out and he is no longer able to favor his 'friends' he will

find himself alone and bitter with nothing to offer for the favors he took for granted.

[Warpy]

8. Term limits. Code of ethics. Strict recusal policies.

and FFS, expand the court to the number of district courts--13.

[moniss]

9. Some many months ago I posted a comment

about this issue and posed the question of a very real possibility. What do we do if the SC takes a case challenging the increased ethics rules and finds them unconstitutional so that they can protect their power grab? The amendment process isn't going to happen because you need a 2/3 vote in both the House and Senate. I'm not saying we don't try and obviously we need investigation and hearings but what steps does anybody think we could/should take if they rule against ethics reform? I'm asking that question for trying to understand what we could do next because if the SC were to do such a thing then all legitimacy is gone and basically I can see states etc. refusing to abide by SC decisions. What would the DOJ response be to the highest Court losing all legitimacy? If DOJ were to continue to take investigative/enforcement actions regarding new rulings wouldn't they also be viewed as having lost all legitimacy? What then? So if people in the country were to largely view the legal structure as no longer having legitimacy then do we descend into purely individual state legal legitimacy being recognized by people? Some whackos are already there.

An example of this would be Little Rock etc. when governors and others tried to refuse to comply with Brown v Board. What would have been the effect if Ike hadn't sent troops to enforce that SC decision? What if those governors would have won the day for their refusing to obey SC rulings? Would each state, if desired, sit down and make a list of what they would and wouldn't obey and make themselves into their own little kingdom?

Even if Roberts were to suddenly grow even the tiniest of balls it would still be a 5 to 4 matter. The idea of that growth at this point is very long odds. You would need Gorsuch to come along and that is iffy at best.

[AZizzy]

10. These idiots have law degrees

These idiots have law degrees, serve on the highest court in the land and haven’t figured out they’re toys bought for the pleasure of billionaires?