Thread by @_sidmehta

I'm not a lawyer. I didn't attend law school. I'm the biggest skeptic of the #RuleOfLaw that I know.

Here's my thread of highlights (excerpts & passages) from #SupremeMyths: Why The Supreme Court Is Not A Court & Its Justices Are Not Judges by @espinsegall + my comments.

Preface | “It’s no great secret that the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Law decisions reflect the personal values of the Justices…that politics & personality affect the Court’s decisions is only the beginning of the story.”

#SCOTUS produces case law, hence, it's a legislature.

Prologue xiii | “If changing judges changes law, it is not even clear what law is.” ~ Judge Richard Posner

A law means whatever the hell the writers say it means or doesn't mean, based on definition of words & syntax. Writing laws is an art form, it's not mathematics.

Prologue xv

The fact that the Legal Tender Act cases in the prologue set the scene for the entire book is the chef's kiss - money & government. 🤑🤑🤑

Prologue xvii cites the term “limited gov’t.”

The description of "limited gov't." varies from one person to the next due to political ideology & preferred systems of governance & governing or rule & dominion. When political terminology isn't universal, conflicts are guaranteed.

Ch. 1, p. 1 | Asks the question: Does #SCOTUS function more like a court or more like an ultimate veto council?

Since the Court produces case law - which makes or breaks laws enacted by the Legislative Branch & the Executive Branch - the Court is an ultimate veto council.

Ch. 1, p. 2-3 | Cites a rule that judges are to apply pre-existing law.

The legal rule of stare decisis (precedent) binds you to the past - meaning, it can prevent progress as times change or it can provide security during periods of strife. I'm not a fan of this concept.

Ch. 1, p. 4 | “Essentially, that means the Court is free to change its prior decisions, and thus the law, as it sees fit, and it does so frequently.”

#SCOTUS is said to be a co-equal branch of gov't. It's a law-making body, just like Congress (acts) & POTUS (Executive Order).

Ch. 1, p. 5 | “These Justices view the Constitution differently...because they...have had different life experiences. When nine such people...need at least five votes to produce an outcome, it’s not surprising that their decisions resemble the work of a political veto council..."

Ch. 1, p. 6 | “To make sure this constitutional democracy works, judges...should not substitute their own policy choices for those of other political officials, but...to make sure that the Constitution’s pre-existing rules (to the extent they’re ascertainable) are enforced.”

Ch. 1, p.6-7 | Cites the problems of life tenure & the Senate confirmation process.

Since #POTUS selects nominees & then the Senate conducts the job interview and either hires or rejects the job seeker - rather than a Justice being elected - the entire process isn't democratic.

Ch.1, p. 9 | Repeating the rule of being bound by pre-existing law.

Repeating, I'm not a fan of the rule of precedent (stare decisis).

Ch. 2, p. 14 | “…but Levi Lincoln refused to answer questions on the grounds that a high-ranking Executive Branch officer couldn’t be forced by the Court to testify about official business.”

The concept of secrecy is at odds with an enterprise that claims to value transparency.

Ch. 4, p. 31 | “The Constitution isn’t intended to embody a particular economic theory…It is made for people of fundamentally differing views.” ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Bullshit. The USA's economic system was established centuries earlier: Exploitation & theft. #Capitalism

Ch. 4, p. 38-39 | #SCOTUS invalidates laws regulating the economic system during the first 35 years of the 20th century.

Again, calling bullshit on Justice Holmes. America is a capitalist, colonial enterprise, thus SCOTUS ruling to conserve #capitalism despite needed reforms.

Ch. 4, p. 46 | The Court's Justices are political actors and they're making political decisions.

After all, the Judicial Branch is a co-equal body of the gov't. Producing case law is de facto writing & passing laws.

Ch. 5, p. 66 | #POTUS Ronald Reagan isn't criticized for misstating facts.

In America, elected politicians are given way too much deference, especially at the national level. Also, this reminds me of POTUS Richard Nixon: "When the President does it, that means it's not illegal."

Ch. 5, p. 68 | Stare Decisis – the need to follow prior cases.

The legal rule of stare decisis (precedent) binds you to the past - meaning, it can prevent progress as times change or it can provide security during periods of strife. I'm not a fan of this concept.

Ch. 6, p. 79-81, 83, 85 | The Second Amendment.

Professor Segall doesn't include the backstory of #2A: It's a white supremacist law to empower white men to control enslaved Africans and to fight and/or massacre the "merciless Indian savages."

Ch. 6, p. 92 | #SCOTUS Justices are interpreting text, tradition, history and precedent to justify public policy decisions made on other grounds.

This makes me think of a storytelling technique called reverse engineering. It's used sometimes in "unscripted" TV show productions.

Ch. 7, p. 118 | #SCOTUS Justice Sandra Day O'Connor predicts the future of racial affairs in a case about affirmative action.

The legal rule of stare decisis binds you to the past. How does any white American predict a racial affairs future that differs from the past?

Ch. 8, p. 139 | #SCOTUS Justices set national public policy.

According to the colonizers who framed the Constitution, the Court is a co-equal branch of the gov't., thus, the Court does have a say in public policy. If the Justices were meant to be judges, then the Framers f-d up.

Ch. 8, p. 145+148 | Western Civilization & Western World

There's the rub: The U.S. #Constitution establishes & enshrines European Power & Culture as the Supreme Law of the Land, at the expense of #IndigenousPeoples & enslaved Africans.

America's Originalism is #WhiteSupremacy.

Ch. 8, p. 153-154 | Proselytize & Proselytization
p. 157 | “…The Ten Commandments have profoundly influenced the formation of Western legal thought…”

@Pontifex launched the #OrganizedCrimeSyndicate, European #colonialism, with the #DoctrineOfDiscovery.

Ch. 9, p. 183 | “…vague phrases & amorphous concepts...”

A law means whatever the hell the writers say it means or doesn't mean, based on definition of words & syntax. Writing laws is an art, it's not mathematics.

ThE RuLe Of LaW Is SaCrOsAnCt.

It's a confidence game to me.

Ch. 10, p. 185-187 | Designing a new enterprise from scratch.

I wouldn't base a new sovereign nation-state on the #Bible nor #colonialism nor #capitalism nor a fixed charter. I wouldn't be the East India Company (EIC) nor the EIC on steroids - the #USA.

Singapore seems nice.