Thread by @abfrancois

I’m completely comfortable making the case that, from Reconstruction to the modern era, Congress has been the hero and the Court the villain when it comes to freedom. Doesn’t matter how much the court points to Brown.

https://twitter.com/profepps/status/1429884461672505351

At the end of the civil war the court systematically butchered the reconstruction amendments and, not only has it never stopped that crime of intellectual butchery, but it has deliberately stopped Congress from exercising its enforcement powers under the 13th, 14th, and 15th.

I, for one, don’t know how Brown alone makes up for Prigg v Pa, Ableman v Booth, Dred Scott, Cruikshank, The Civil Rights Cases, US v Harris, Hodges v US, Giles v Harris, Plessy, Washington v Davis, Miliken v Bradley, McCleskey v Kemp, Bakke, Parents Involved, Shelby County, etc

And this is a wildly truncated list, not just in terms of number but in terms of subject matter as the list concerns primarily the rights of Black people. You expand the list to include Native Americans, Women etc and the re it’s gets uglier.

Reason why the court’s reputation is so high is both because it has tended to vindicate the rights of those with the biggest microphones and because my profession has served as its PR firm.