Being a Supreme Court Justice seems like a good gig. Full disclosure: I have never been a Supreme Court though I once met John Roberts in the bar of the Old Edwards Inn in Highlands, NC and chatted with him amiably about local fly fishing. He had two enormous US Marshalls guarding him, both of whom could have started for the Dallas Cowboys. For the record, he sat down next to me and initiated the conversation. Looked lonely with a sunburn.
You are appointed for life, you work in a nice building with great parking and security, they provide you with clerks to write the opinions, you can wear anything you want under your robe, they give you free latte, and they have unlimited M & M’s in the kitchen. [Associate Justice Sotomayer refuses to eat the yellow ones.]
Different set of Supremes than the group that sang, Stop in the Name of Love, Back in My Arms Again, and I Hear a Symphony.
What’s not to like?
Appointment and confirmation
Well, first there is the issue of actually being appointed and confirmed — particularly if you are a proposed by a Republican President. [Whoa, Kavanaugh and the chic? The chic being Amy Coney Barrett.]
Very ugly. Barbaric. Big hurdle, but the job is a damn good job. Just the interview process is ugly.
Threats, Big Red Car, the threats?
Comes now the new practice of threatening the Court before they even begin to deliberate cases.
1. Back in June of 2020 at a pro-abortion rally, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer famously threatened the Supreme Court saying,
“I want to tell you, Gorsuch. I want to tell you, Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price! You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”
When Chuck spoke (screamed), there were no cases dealing with abortion in front of the Court. It is not clear what “cases” Chuck was referring to or what “awful decisions” he meant.
2. This vexed the normally placid SCOTUS Chief Justice John G Roberts, Jr. who retorted,
“Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous. All Members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter.”
The Legislative Branch and the Judicial Branch are co-equal branches of our cunningly well-designed government and there is no place for the Legislative Branch, regardless who is in charge, to threaten a co-equal branch of government.
The latest threat
Comes now Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat Senator from New Hampshire who on the eve of the Court hearing a case from Mississippi that bears on the subject of abortion issues this threat,
“I hope the Supreme Court is listening to the people of the United States because . . . . . I think if you want to see a revolution go ahead, outlaw Roe v. Wade and see what the response is of the public, particularly young people. Because I think that will not be acceptable to young women or young men.”
“Hey, Kavanaugh, Barrett, Gorsuch, Thomas, Alito, Roberts — you want a bloody revolution? You decide a case in a manner I don’t approve and I’ll give you a bloody revolution like you’ve never seen before. My name is Jeanne Shaheen and I approve this message.”
In practice, the SCOTUS doesn’t actually conduct polls and seek the approval of groups of people (specifically including Dem Senators) as it relates to its rulings.
The Supremes read and rule on the law, nothing more. They are specifically not elected to allow them to avoid the unseemly pressure of popularity freeing them to do what they consider to be legal.
Let’s not be a pollyanna, Big Red Car
Fair play to you. Sure the whole thing about Roe v Wade is contentious, but that is exactly why we have a co-equal branch of the government and a SUPREME Court, to keep it in the legal arena and away from the mob.
Nobody is talking about overturning Roe v Wade — though there is a nominal 6-3 conservative majority on the Court thanks to that Trump fellow.
The case before the Court is a Mississippi law that seeks to define “fetal viability” as happening at 15 weeks.
You will recall that the successor to Roe v Wade — Casey v Planned Parenthood introduced the issue of fetal viability, but I won’t bore you with facts when we are on the verge of a bloody revolution.
Bottom line it, Big Red Car
Senators — in this case Democrat Senators — must stop threatening the Supreme Court of the United States. Stop. Right. Now.
Very bad juju.
But, hey, maybe we should have an open season on Supreme Court Justices — who really knows?