Replacing Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh would take the balance of the Court back to where it was in 1973, before Nixon decided to drive Fortas out with bogus charges. There may be a way...
Replacing the three justices may be a short term fix but there are deep structural issues that need addressing.
• The Supreme Court should be brought under the Code of Conduct for United States Judges rules and processes.
• A term limit system should be implemented. Justices may be appointed for life but may only be allowed to serve a limited time such as 2 x 9 year terms but moved to Senior Status at age 65.
• Service after age 65 should be in Senior Status, just as for the lower courts. At the time the position goes open and a new appointment can be made.
• The Chief Justice position should be rotated using the same or a similar model to the used in the lower courts and set out already in 28 U.S. Code § 45.
• The size of the court should increased to 13 active members, at a minimum, to match the supervisory role over the 13 Courts of Appeal. It would be better for the Court have around 26 members to allow for panels. Senior Status members would help short to term to increase the Court to a larger size but over time, the larger court should be staffed by active members.
• Disclosure of the identity of funders of amicus curiae briefs should be required at all levels of the U.S. Courts.
All of this can be done by Congress so no need to amend the Constitution.
To protect American democracy, reach out to millions of unregistered likely Democrats using a dedicated database using every outreach method possible (phone and text, postcard, email and targeted ad, and in-person too), where new Democratic voters will make the most impact – in the most flippable states and districts.
I’ve been saying for a few years, Ginni Thomas is Clarence’s boot from the bench. I posted this several times here on Substack with increasing agreement from other readers. ♥️
SCOTUS has unilaterally deemed the J6 coup attempt as a “mere protest.” By ignoring and gaslighting the seriousness, they have judged it already as not being in the realm of criminality. And boy, is that ever a FASCIST move . . .
If they follow the evidence, Crow and Leo might lead to more witnesses. Noted alleged scumbags have been clerks and staff to the court. What does John Eastman know and when did he know it? Laura Ingraham?
IMHO there is probable cause that any clerk who communicated with Ginni or Eastman should be subpoenaed.
The corruption in Conservative pockets of government in this Country is horrendous.
The House is dedicated to destroying democracy under the auspices of Trump the truth slayer and his agent for the attempted overthrow of our democracy in 2021, Mike “ I know God” Johnson .
Neither one of them can possibly know Gods will.
God is a highly respected known Democrat . He fights for his poorest people to have food and the basic means and education to navigate this world .
He demands respect for everyone regardless of their sexual identity. He hates the lies being told in his name by bigots who demand fear to control. He abhors violence and is wholly distressed by the actions of the members of the Supreme Court who foment hate & violence on anyone in the way of violence.
He reveres
women and affords them the very same rights as old white men who are supposed to govern for the people . But they govern for the purse.
Things must change.
We can’t allow these far right sinkholes to hide behind lies about what Christianity is
With or without the theatrics, Congress should be investigating these corrupt Justices.
If we do, will there be a conscience among them? Seems to me any embarrassment they are capable of would have been obvious by now. I expect they will just figure out how to be more covert in collecting the bribes. It truly is mind-blowing how blatant they have been.
Still, I hope for the best Thom, even though I won't hold my breath on any retirements either. These are exactly the kinds of people who like to surround themselves with ass-kissers and rich people. Retiring so Trump can appoint a younger version? Only if the payment was irresistible!
There is some "noise" about encouraging Sotomayor to retire for health reasons, but one has to wonder, wouldn't the Republicans in the Senate just stonewall until the election again, like Mitch showed them? It's 2/3 to confirm, right?
Glad you mentioned it, Mmerose. It was interesting looking this up. It's about Senate rules.
Simple majority will do (Kavanaugh was 50-48, Brown was 53-47). The problem in the Garland case was the Senate Judiciary Committee refused to do the hearings. They were in lock-step with McConnell who said he would not bring a vote to the floor.
The 2/3 rule held for 40 years, then Sen. Reid nuked it for some other jobs but kept that threshold for Supreme nominees. McConnell gloated at the time, because he hoped he'd get to finish the job. Sure enough, he got to do just that for Gorsuch (54-45).
Justice Sotomayor will be 70 in June, and she has a whole other life as an author. Wonderful woman, and she saw first-hand what happened with RBG. ???
I read the possibilities of delousing the Supreme Court and my heart swoops skyward. I consider any possibility of the Democratic Party's currently elected officials actually doing anything in this matter and my heart falls flat to the floor.
Sadly, the explanation may be that in order to pursue the investigations Thom suggests, the politicians would also have to be investigating the super-rich groomers themselves.
Thanks, Thom, for another depressing history lesson documenting our failing constitutional Republic. I get this same response to my comments on our collapsing climate and environment, due to massive human overpopulation and overconsumption. What we need most, those of us powerless to push back the river of materialism and corruption, is the courage to face the truth and grieve our way through it. My climate collapse studies, along with my many years of research on "population density stress", culminating in my gift to humanity/Mother Nature of the free online e-book PDF, "Stress R Us", have impressed upon me the importance of grieving the current state of our species and the planet, let alone the granular details of civil strife and societal collapse. Bottom line: our species is on the precipice of a huge population/natural resource collapse, and Mother Nature will celebrate our demise. The heart-breaking truth only hurts for awhile, then a higher spiritual plane can be found amid the rubble. Have a blessed day and keep up the fine investigative journalism.
I'm a little cynical about the "higher spiritual plane," just me, but thank you for your climate work. Headlines this week: Mt. Rainier id going to limited access/reservations, and businesses in Monterey/Big Sur are pushing back against planning for more tourist housing: already too much to handle. So I was having the "too many people" train of thought earlier in the week, remembering a romantic Big Sur visit awhile ago, figuring it would be too stressful to go back now; before your post. Too many people.
For the LIFE of me I can't understand why the Dems don't use their investigative powers in the Senate to be looking into the corrupt and corrupted Supreme Court (or Kushner's $2B bribe, how Jamal Khashoggi was assassinated and who knew about it, etc.). We may control the Senate, but we clearly don't know how to USE the Senate.
What Thom said is nice: I'm hoping the upcoming Gen Y Dems have more guts and conviction to do what needs to be done. Our boomer leadership needs to win this election and then start the transition to young leaders with some guerrilla warfare skills, because even when we're winning we're losing. No imagination, no guts, just nose to the grindstone while the GOP and conservatives grifts, corrupts and steals everything not nailed down.
We patiently lurk around until after April 25th when the supreme Court decides whether Trump can be prosecuted. And if the supreme Court says he is above prosecution, then it is a free-for-all and a green light for Biden to declare martial law! And if the supreme Court says he can be prosecuted, we expedite the process by making the courts work overtime!
But what will really happen is nothing! The Democrats will make excuses for the virtuless traitor loving Republicans. The witto Republicans weren't woved enough by their mommies and abusive fathers, (I can see why),while the sadistic Republicans are planning on stealing every ounce of gold in the land and enslaving all of the bleeding hearts.
We patiently lurk around until after April 25th when the supreme Court decides whether Trump can be prosecuted. And if the supreme Court says he is above prosecution, then it is a free-for-all and a green light for Biden to declare martial law! And if the supreme Court says he can be prosecuted, we expedite the process by making the courts work overtime!
Back to 1970? How about 1670? Let us be reminded of: Alito's "authority" from his inspiration Justice Hale: https://www.propublica.org/article/abortion-roe-wade-alito-scotus-hale "Hale became Lord Chief Justice of England in 1671. Hale once wrote a long letter to his grandchildren, dispensing life advice, in which he veered into a screed against women, describing them as “chargeable unprofitable people” who “know the ready way to consume an estate, and to ruin a family quickly.” Hale particularly despaired of the changes he saw in young women, writing, “And now the world is altered: young gentlewomen learn to be bold” and “talk loud.” (just a taste)
These Injustices are not only "corrupt stooges for the morbidly rich," but also dedicated woman-haters. I think it is significant that the two characteristics go together.
“Replacing Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh would take the balance of the Court back to where it was in 1970, before Nixon decided to drive Fortas out with bogus charges.
If they’re lucky — or strategic — we may be able to get an Abe Fortas outcome and clean up the reputation of the Court in one fell stroke.”
Assumes that any of the three would feel a modicum of shame or discomfort as Abe did. I think they would just did in their heels and allow their morbidly rich benefactors to run a counter offensive.
And to get an investigation off the ground requires solid Democratic majorities.
Republicans are far beyond shame, the only way such a strategy can work is by taking a page out of the GOP playbook and whipping up public outrage to a fever pitch. The difference is that Democrat outrage over Supreme Court corruption is thoroughly justified, and then some.
“Democracy in Chains” by Nancy MacLean discusses how Libertarian fascism uses laws/regulations to turn the tables, “bind the system” so that it cannot function, and then, enacting new laws meant to drain money and power away from the people and into the pockets of the billionaire fascists. That’s how we ended up with “Citizens United.”
Koch/Leonard “Cadre”—I call it a gang, an Organized Crime Syndicate—has spent 50 years laying the groundwork for this. Here we are at the precipice, Chained and Bound by a law giving SCOTUS lifetime membership; extremists were planted on the court that were NOT legitimate candidates. No, they were not. They were drunks with histories of domestic violence; they were radical Dominionists whom their own cohorts warned against; and just look at Thomas: A grifter from the get-go—not to mention a misogynist with a history of groping and threatening women in his workplace. His alliance to the Libertarian fascists is wide open, with him sitting in Harlan Crowe’s garden, surrounded by Nazi paraphernalia . . . We all know how trump got to stuff the Supreme Court and lower courts, even robbing Obama from appointing a judge.
….and tRump wasn’t even legitimately elected! NO! There’s another rule, used to bind up fair elections, planting libertarians in office based upon “electoral votes.” It’s how George W stole an election, too. Then, he and Cheney stole the next election with their fear-mongering, WMD and a FAKE WAR.
If there are to be any changes made, we’d better start with making traitors, collaborators, seditionists and fascist leaders ACCOUNTABLE. That means seizing assets of Fascist Billionaires and revoking Citizens United. The RNC operates as an organized crime syndicate with Fascist/Libertarian billionaires INSTALLING puppets at every level of government. That organization has to be busted. The Tax system has to be overhauled. And most of all, NO BODY GETS TO BE ABOVE THE LAW. Hold the fascists accountable.
You really hit the nail on the head. Predatory fascist billionaires are using their, often times ill gotten booty, to further corrupt our political system. Their ethics are so depraved that they, and the GOP, have made common cause with Putin, and duped many followers into believing that imprisoning those that don't agree with their nastiness is the way to go. Narcissists like Trump, Putin & many of the morbidly wealthy, only have singular goals, self- aggrandizement. Religion & shared sacrifice are only tools to be used, in their view, to gain advantage over others. They look down upon any that are not their equal in wealth & those that do not share their brutish ideology.
Jane Mayer's 'Dark Money' & Senator Whitehouse's book 'The Scheme' are both exposes' of the corruption that right wing courts & traitorous billionaires have rained down upon 'we the people' (must reads). We must take the levers of power away from this greed driven, power hungry, fascist friendly, subversive bunch, while we still have an increment of democratic power left. Vote blue to hinder fascism and the further corruption of democracy.
If ever there was Karma, tricky Dick and Mitchell met one. Tricky Dick graced world history as the only US President to resign in disgrace and Mitchell saw the insides of prison. Fortas had the last laugh!
Replacing the three justices may be a short term fix but there are deep structural issues that need addressing.
• The Supreme Court should be brought under the Code of Conduct for United States Judges rules and processes.
• A term limit system should be implemented. Justices may be appointed for life but may only be allowed to serve a limited time such as 2 x 9 year terms but moved to Senior Status at age 65.
• Service after age 65 should be in Senior Status, just as for the lower courts. At the time the position goes open and a new appointment can be made.
• The Chief Justice position should be rotated using the same or a similar model to the used in the lower courts and set out already in 28 U.S. Code § 45.
• The size of the court should increased to 13 active members, at a minimum, to match the supervisory role over the 13 Courts of Appeal. It would be better for the Court have around 26 members to allow for panels. Senior Status members would help short to term to increase the Court to a larger size but over time, the larger court should be staffed by active members.
• Disclosure of the identity of funders of amicus curiae briefs should be required at all levels of the U.S. Courts.
All of this can be done by Congress so no need to amend the Constitution.
Before we can do that need to sweep.
To protect American democracy, reach out to millions of unregistered likely Democrats using a dedicated database using every outreach method possible (phone and text, postcard, email and targeted ad, and in-person too), where new Democratic voters will make the most impact – in the most flippable states and districts.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/actions
I’ve been saying for a few years, Ginni Thomas is Clarence’s boot from the bench. I posted this several times here on Substack with increasing agreement from other readers. ♥️
When are they going to charge Ginni?
SCOTUS has unilaterally deemed the J6 coup attempt as a “mere protest.” By ignoring and gaslighting the seriousness, they have judged it already as not being in the realm of criminality. And boy, is that ever a FASCIST move . . .
Plus bribery and perjury are crimes.
If they follow the evidence, Crow and Leo might lead to more witnesses. Noted alleged scumbags have been clerks and staff to the court. What does John Eastman know and when did he know it? Laura Ingraham?
IMHO there is probable cause that any clerk who communicated with Ginni or Eastman should be subpoenaed.
https://www.propublica.org/article/why-hasnt-senate-judiciary-subpoenaed-harlan-crow-leonard-leo-scotus
From your keyboard to Biden's ears, and Markey's & Warren's & Van Hollen's & ....
The corruption in Conservative pockets of government in this Country is horrendous.
The House is dedicated to destroying democracy under the auspices of Trump the truth slayer and his agent for the attempted overthrow of our democracy in 2021, Mike “ I know God” Johnson .
Neither one of them can possibly know Gods will.
God is a highly respected known Democrat . He fights for his poorest people to have food and the basic means and education to navigate this world .
He demands respect for everyone regardless of their sexual identity. He hates the lies being told in his name by bigots who demand fear to control. He abhors violence and is wholly distressed by the actions of the members of the Supreme Court who foment hate & violence on anyone in the way of violence.
He reveres
women and affords them the very same rights as old white men who are supposed to govern for the people . But they govern for the purse.
Things must change.
We can’t allow these far right sinkholes to hide behind lies about what Christianity is
Democrats have to replace Garland and play hardball.
Thom's suggested proceedings bypass Garland, at least to get things rolling.
With or without the theatrics, Congress should be investigating these corrupt Justices.
If we do, will there be a conscience among them? Seems to me any embarrassment they are capable of would have been obvious by now. I expect they will just figure out how to be more covert in collecting the bribes. It truly is mind-blowing how blatant they have been.
Still, I hope for the best Thom, even though I won't hold my breath on any retirements either. These are exactly the kinds of people who like to surround themselves with ass-kissers and rich people. Retiring so Trump can appoint a younger version? Only if the payment was irresistible!
There is some "noise" about encouraging Sotomayor to retire for health reasons, but one has to wonder, wouldn't the Republicans in the Senate just stonewall until the election again, like Mitch showed them? It's 2/3 to confirm, right?
Glad you mentioned it, Mmerose. It was interesting looking this up. It's about Senate rules.
Simple majority will do (Kavanaugh was 50-48, Brown was 53-47). The problem in the Garland case was the Senate Judiciary Committee refused to do the hearings. They were in lock-step with McConnell who said he would not bring a vote to the floor.
The 2/3 rule held for 40 years, then Sen. Reid nuked it for some other jobs but kept that threshold for Supreme nominees. McConnell gloated at the time, because he hoped he'd get to finish the job. Sure enough, he got to do just that for Gorsuch (54-45).
Justice Sotomayor will be 70 in June, and she has a whole other life as an author. Wonderful woman, and she saw first-hand what happened with RBG. ???
Thanks for the 'splainin"!
I read the possibilities of delousing the Supreme Court and my heart swoops skyward. I consider any possibility of the Democratic Party's currently elected officials actually doing anything in this matter and my heart falls flat to the floor.
Then the question is: Why the Biden administration has NOT yet started this investigation? Absurd, incomprehensible, no?
There is a two word answer as to why no investigation has been started. Merrick Garland.......
Haaaaaaa…. Voila! Then why not fire him. Something von trump would have done a long time ago. Thank you.
Sadly, the explanation may be that in order to pursue the investigations Thom suggests, the politicians would also have to be investigating the super-rich groomers themselves.
Thanks, Thom, for another depressing history lesson documenting our failing constitutional Republic. I get this same response to my comments on our collapsing climate and environment, due to massive human overpopulation and overconsumption. What we need most, those of us powerless to push back the river of materialism and corruption, is the courage to face the truth and grieve our way through it. My climate collapse studies, along with my many years of research on "population density stress", culminating in my gift to humanity/Mother Nature of the free online e-book PDF, "Stress R Us", have impressed upon me the importance of grieving the current state of our species and the planet, let alone the granular details of civil strife and societal collapse. Bottom line: our species is on the precipice of a huge population/natural resource collapse, and Mother Nature will celebrate our demise. The heart-breaking truth only hurts for awhile, then a higher spiritual plane can be found amid the rubble. Have a blessed day and keep up the fine investigative journalism.
I'm a little cynical about the "higher spiritual plane," just me, but thank you for your climate work. Headlines this week: Mt. Rainier id going to limited access/reservations, and businesses in Monterey/Big Sur are pushing back against planning for more tourist housing: already too much to handle. So I was having the "too many people" train of thought earlier in the week, remembering a romantic Big Sur visit awhile ago, figuring it would be too stressful to go back now; before your post. Too many people.
For the LIFE of me I can't understand why the Dems don't use their investigative powers in the Senate to be looking into the corrupt and corrupted Supreme Court (or Kushner's $2B bribe, how Jamal Khashoggi was assassinated and who knew about it, etc.). We may control the Senate, but we clearly don't know how to USE the Senate.
What Thom said is nice: I'm hoping the upcoming Gen Y Dems have more guts and conviction to do what needs to be done. Our boomer leadership needs to win this election and then start the transition to young leaders with some guerrilla warfare skills, because even when we're winning we're losing. No imagination, no guts, just nose to the grindstone while the GOP and conservatives grifts, corrupts and steals everything not nailed down.
We patiently lurk around until after April 25th when the supreme Court decides whether Trump can be prosecuted. And if the supreme Court says he is above prosecution, then it is a free-for-all and a green light for Biden to declare martial law! And if the supreme Court says he can be prosecuted, we expedite the process by making the courts work overtime!
But what will really happen is nothing! The Democrats will make excuses for the virtuless traitor loving Republicans. The witto Republicans weren't woved enough by their mommies and abusive fathers, (I can see why),while the sadistic Republicans are planning on stealing every ounce of gold in the land and enslaving all of the bleeding hearts.
Your first paragraph is stunnngly correct, pass that around
Dems don't have the guts to use their power. Plain and simple. Needs to change or we're lost.
We’re just not organized —Koch & his Gang have spent the last 50 years dedicated to organizing the overthrow of this democracy.
We patiently lurk around until after April 25th when the supreme Court decides whether Trump can be prosecuted. And if the supreme Court says he is above prosecution, then it is a free-for-all and a green light for Biden to declare martial law! And if the supreme Court says he can be prosecuted, we expedite the process by making the courts work overtime!
Back to 1970? How about 1670? Let us be reminded of: Alito's "authority" from his inspiration Justice Hale: https://www.propublica.org/article/abortion-roe-wade-alito-scotus-hale "Hale became Lord Chief Justice of England in 1671. Hale once wrote a long letter to his grandchildren, dispensing life advice, in which he veered into a screed against women, describing them as “chargeable unprofitable people” who “know the ready way to consume an estate, and to ruin a family quickly.” Hale particularly despaired of the changes he saw in young women, writing, “And now the world is altered: young gentlewomen learn to be bold” and “talk loud.” (just a taste)
These Injustices are not only "corrupt stooges for the morbidly rich," but also dedicated woman-haters. I think it is significant that the two characteristics go together.
“Replacing Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh would take the balance of the Court back to where it was in 1970, before Nixon decided to drive Fortas out with bogus charges.
If they’re lucky — or strategic — we may be able to get an Abe Fortas outcome and clean up the reputation of the Court in one fell stroke.”
Assumes that any of the three would feel a modicum of shame or discomfort as Abe did. I think they would just did in their heels and allow their morbidly rich benefactors to run a counter offensive.
And to get an investigation off the ground requires solid Democratic majorities.
Republicans are far beyond shame, the only way such a strategy can work is by taking a page out of the GOP playbook and whipping up public outrage to a fever pitch. The difference is that Democrat outrage over Supreme Court corruption is thoroughly justified, and then some.
“Democracy in Chains” by Nancy MacLean discusses how Libertarian fascism uses laws/regulations to turn the tables, “bind the system” so that it cannot function, and then, enacting new laws meant to drain money and power away from the people and into the pockets of the billionaire fascists. That’s how we ended up with “Citizens United.”
Koch/Leonard “Cadre”—I call it a gang, an Organized Crime Syndicate—has spent 50 years laying the groundwork for this. Here we are at the precipice, Chained and Bound by a law giving SCOTUS lifetime membership; extremists were planted on the court that were NOT legitimate candidates. No, they were not. They were drunks with histories of domestic violence; they were radical Dominionists whom their own cohorts warned against; and just look at Thomas: A grifter from the get-go—not to mention a misogynist with a history of groping and threatening women in his workplace. His alliance to the Libertarian fascists is wide open, with him sitting in Harlan Crowe’s garden, surrounded by Nazi paraphernalia . . . We all know how trump got to stuff the Supreme Court and lower courts, even robbing Obama from appointing a judge.
….and tRump wasn’t even legitimately elected! NO! There’s another rule, used to bind up fair elections, planting libertarians in office based upon “electoral votes.” It’s how George W stole an election, too. Then, he and Cheney stole the next election with their fear-mongering, WMD and a FAKE WAR.
If there are to be any changes made, we’d better start with making traitors, collaborators, seditionists and fascist leaders ACCOUNTABLE. That means seizing assets of Fascist Billionaires and revoking Citizens United. The RNC operates as an organized crime syndicate with Fascist/Libertarian billionaires INSTALLING puppets at every level of government. That organization has to be busted. The Tax system has to be overhauled. And most of all, NO BODY GETS TO BE ABOVE THE LAW. Hold the fascists accountable.
You really hit the nail on the head. Predatory fascist billionaires are using their, often times ill gotten booty, to further corrupt our political system. Their ethics are so depraved that they, and the GOP, have made common cause with Putin, and duped many followers into believing that imprisoning those that don't agree with their nastiness is the way to go. Narcissists like Trump, Putin & many of the morbidly wealthy, only have singular goals, self- aggrandizement. Religion & shared sacrifice are only tools to be used, in their view, to gain advantage over others. They look down upon any that are not their equal in wealth & those that do not share their brutish ideology.
Jane Mayer's 'Dark Money' & Senator Whitehouse's book 'The Scheme' are both exposes' of the corruption that right wing courts & traitorous billionaires have rained down upon 'we the people' (must reads). We must take the levers of power away from this greed driven, power hungry, fascist friendly, subversive bunch, while we still have an increment of democratic power left. Vote blue to hinder fascism and the further corruption of democracy.
If ever there was Karma, tricky Dick and Mitchell met one. Tricky Dick graced world history as the only US President to resign in disgrace and Mitchell saw the insides of prison. Fortas had the last laugh!
Thom, as usual you are teaching me the real history of america and I am gratefully astonished at my ignorance despite years of education.