Reform the Supreme Court or Bow to MAGA

Democrats need to start enacting bold, radical reforms to reign in a Supreme Court that is abusing its power. A century of progress is at stake.

***This article was just published in the August/September issue of The Progressive and was submitted right before Biden introduced his Supreme Court reform plan. Hey, great minds…***

Once upon a time in America, there was an unelected branch of government with nine Justices who served lifetime appointments and had the power to undo nearly a century of progress. It was called the U.S. Supreme Court.

They were supposed to act as a check on power but did everything they could to enable the worst impulses of a twice-impeached vulgarian, Donald Trump, and his increasingly violent MAGA cult, who had been part of a failed insurrection to keep him in power. Nonetheless, he sought another presidential term to avoid accountability for his numerous crimes.

The spouses of two of the conservative Justices openly supported Trump’s extremist base. One spouse, Ginni Thomas, sent supportive, conspiratorial text messages before and after the January 6, 2021, insurrection, while another spouse, Martha-Ann Alito, flew the flags of these traitors at two of her private properties. The “moderate conservative” Justice on the Court, John Roberts, refused to ask these two Justices to recuse themselves from cases involving the insurrection, even though they were deeply compromised.

Multiple reports revealed that one of the Justices, Clarence Thomas, was being feted by billionaires and failed to report the numerous gifts, trips, and favors he had received from his sugar daddies. The other Justice, Samuel Alito, was caught on tape saying, “One side or the other is going to win,” a reference to a zealous, religious minority taking on a majority that believes in pluralism and the separation of church and state.

To make it all more apocalyptic, the winner of the 2024 presidential race would potentially have the ability to seat several new Justices, considering the advanced ages of three of the current ones who are now septuagenarians.

The only political party that could muster a robust defense of the country’s laws and norms and fight back against this rogue, dangerous Court decided to become somnambulists. They were called Democrats. The best that their leaders, such as Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, could do, was wag their fingers, issue stern tweets, and resign themselves to apathy.

But there was another way forward. Ahead of the pivotal 2024 presidential election, in which both candidates were old, white men, Democrats could have rallied the majority against this historically unpopular Supreme Court. They could have run on reforming the Court and holding these rogue Justices accountable for their absurd “originalist” vision of the Constitution that allowed them to manipulate the document like Play-Doh to achieve their ideological agenda.

Many progressives kept saying it was time to mainstream the concept of expanding the Court. There was no rule that said the Supreme Court needed only nine Justices. At first, it had six members, so why not add four more? They kept reminding Democrats that Republicans, the party of insurrection, had already stolen a Supreme Court seat from Democratic President Barack Obama.

Trump, a convicted criminal, had appointed three of these Justices, who seemed to be doing the bidding of his cult. Who cares if Republicans whine and complain about unfairness?

The Democratic establishment kept fretting about appearing moderate and winning over undecided voters in the Rust Belt who wear MAGA hats. Meanwhile, Republicans were openly attacking birth control, in vitro fertilization, women’s rights, and books, and forcing public schools to teach the Bible.

Progressives kept asking Democrats to start rallying the majority around other reforms, such as imposing term limits on this unelected branch of government instead of lifetime appointments. Some Democrats, like Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, understood the threat and introduced legislation that would prohibit Justices from accepting gifts valued at more than $50. Others discussed creating an ethics code for the Supreme Court.

Unfortunately, Democrats refused to do any of this and simply told people to vote for President Biden in 2024 and pray for “inshallah.”

The story is still being written, but unless Democrats actually start messaging the public and getting behind bold, radical reforms, it seems likely that the conservative Supreme Court Justices will keep laughing at the majority of the country, abusing their power, and trying their best to create a judicial DeLorean to take America back to 1863.