Appreciate the sentiment - but I’m really hoping that a) we’re not seriously still debating *if* #SCOTUS is an impediment to progress, and that b) we can all acknowledge that impeding progress towards multiracial democracy has been the historical norm for the Supreme Court.
https://twitter.com/russfeingold/status/1410624193360711680
Seriously, the widespread view among Liberals of #SCOTUS as an ally in the fight for a more democratic, fairer society stems entirely from a romanticized understanding of the Court’s history, misconstruing the Warren Court as the norm, when really that era was a massive outlier.
Whenever you bring up the fact that SCOTUS has, as a historical norm, been allied far more often with an anti-democratic, reactionary political project, someone will inevitably yell “But what about this decision? Or that decision?!”
Yes, throughout its history, the Court has at times, for various reasons, deviated from and gotten itself into opposition to the reactionary political project. But this is where a little bit of perspective and a little more than cursory knowledge of individual cases is needed.
Chief Justice Roberts himself is the perfect example. People love to point out that he sometimes votes with the Liberals - because nothing is more important to Very Serious Pundits than upholding the myth that America’s institutions are apolitical and work just fine.
If you look beyond simplistic quantitative analysis (How many votes with / against the Libs?), however, a different picture emerges. Roberts is “moderate” in some areas, yes; and he cares deeply about the appearance of impartial grandeur.
But as @AdamSerwer pointed out in this great piece back in 2013, and as the indispensable @imillhiser keeps emphasizing, when it comes to the core question of whether or not the country should become a truly multiracial, truly pluralistic society, Roberts is not a “moderate.”
https://twitter.com/adamserwer/status/1410643761395376128
In matters directly affecting the future of American democracy - voting rights being chief among them - John Roberts is a principled man. And his key principle is that white conservative elite rule must be upheld. That is his mission, and he does not stray from it. #SCOTUS
Finally, I’ll re-post this thread from a few weeks ago - about the urgent need to fundamentally democratize the system. With the latest #SCOTUS decision, America has only moved further away from multiracial democracy. The stakes are extremely high, and we’re running out of time.
https://twitter.com/tzimmer_history/status/1398270678118322177
This, exactly.
https://twitter.com/ejdionne/status/1410942928025948163
This fantastic piece outlines exactly what the stakes are. Few analysts are as clear and precise about the dangers to American democracy as @RonBrownstein is.
https://twitter.com/theatlantic/status/1410660094283595783
Excellent analysis of the disastrous #SCOTUS decision to further erode and nullify what was left of the Voting Rights Act.
https://twitter.com/LemieuxLGM/status/1410726342820122626
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