• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion

How to Fix the United States’ Weaponized Judiciary

Shahid Buttar by Shahid Buttar
08/09/19
in Opinion
The United States Supreme Court in Washington, D.C

The United States Supreme Court in Washington, DC. Photo: Eric Baradat/AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

In the past few months, we’ve seen American progressives’ worst fears come true as the U.S. Supreme Court continues to make decision after decision based on partisanship rather than legitimate neutral legal interpretation. In two of the most glaring examples, our nation’s highest court (voting along predictable ideological lines) reversed sensible decisions by lower courts that aimed to protect our Democratic process, throwing our democracy to the wolves in the process.

One of those decisions allowed this criminal administration to use Pentagon funds to build its racist and useless border wall. Another separately ruled that our federal courts may not correct instances of partisan gerrymandering that hijack our electoral process and put politicians in the perverse position of choosing their constituents, instead of the other way around.

This last decision is particularly galling because it so clearly aids Republican state legislators that have teamed up to deny voters a meaningful opportunity to choose their representatives by drawing contrived boundaries for legislative districts that ensure their own re-election. This sad pattern not only undermines democracy but also promotes corruption.

The Supreme Court’s abdication of its constitutional responsibility suggests at least two responses, neither of which have been the object of widespread discussion.

Biased Courts

First, the Supreme Court’s demonstrated and documented political bias impedes the institution from performing its constitutional function. Rather than impartially determine how the law should treat issues like efforts by career politicians to co-opt our democracy, the Court appears to evaluate legal questions through the lens of how to preserve and extend the power of political parties, particularly the GOP.

Our justice system routinely abuses the rights of Americans. These abuses are not violations of abstract principles — they destroy the lives of individuals, their families, and entire communities. #ShahidForChangehttps://t.co/80ZDgYhadV

— Shahid For Change ???? (@ShahidForChange) June 2, 2018

In addition to a bias favoring corporations and disfavoring workers, the Supreme Court has also abandoned its constitutional responsibility to guard the democratic process, by striking down laws that once supported political rights (such as Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act) and inviting partisan monopolies to hijack the political process. According to Karen Hobert Flynn, President of Common Cause, this decision is

“part of a disturbing pattern from the Roberts Court of … eviscerating reforms passed by Congress to protect the integrity of our democracy. This Supreme Court has gutted the landmark Voting Rights Act, shredded campaign finance limits in Citizens United, and now it has condoned extreme partisan gerrymandering.”

Having worked on the Shays vs. FEC appeal that upheld campaign finance regulations struck down by the Citizens United decision a few years later, I’ve grown increasingly alarmed as the Court has continued to undermine democracy from one case to the next.

Packing Court vs. Restoring Legitimacy

Responding to the Court’s politicization, many voices are clamoring to expand the size of the Court and add new Justices. Those who propose that solution in the name of correcting the Court’s bias seem to forget a few things.

First, there is no clear pipeline from which to find a plethora of progressive jurists. While Republican presidents have weaponized their appointments to place ideologues on the bench, Democratic presidents have declined to respond in kind, often appointing diverse prosecutors rather than public defenders or legal advocates for communities.

More important, while packing the Court might seem to address the Court’s bias favoring corporations over workers, it would, unfortunately, substitute one prejudice for another. Eroding the independence of the judiciary inevitably harms the Republic by subverting the rule of law.

Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court pose for their official photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., Nov. 30, 2018
The Supreme Court of the United States. Photo: Mandel Ngan, AFP

In contrast, a structurally neutral process remedy could ensure turnover on the Court and restore the legitimacy of its jurisprudence. A decade ago, in the midst of the Barack Obama administration, I proposed replacing life tenure for Supreme Court Justices with a straightforward system of 18-year staggered terms.

This proposal would not eliminate the Court’s bias overnight. It would, however, diminish the incentives for younger “stealth” nominees, and enable a more reasoned approach to a judicial nominations process derided by one repeat player in the Senate as a “Kabuki dance.”

It may be ironic to consider corporations as subject to an extraordinarily demanding set of social roles, particularly since corporations effectively dictate our social policy and run roughshod over the rights of communities. It may be revealing, however, that the only actors subject to even less regulation – permitted by the law and allowed an even broader license to abuse the public interest – are career politicians and the Supreme Court Justices-for-life who have politicized the law to entrench their partisan allies.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The Globe Post.
ShareTweet
Shahid Buttar

Shahid Buttar

Congressional candidate for California’s 12th District and Director, Electronic Frontier Foundation

Related Posts

Medical personnel is given the Pfizer-Biontech Covid-19 corona virus vaccine at the Favoriten Clinic in Vienna, Austria, on December 27, 2020
Opinion

The Vaccine Battle Highlights the Need to Communicate Science

by Lori Lennon
January 19, 2021
President Donald Trump in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House.
Opinion

Threatening Democracy: The Choice Between Progress and Extremism Has Never Been So Clear

by Peter Bloom
January 13, 2021
Jake Angeli speaks to a US Capitol Police officer.
Opinion

American Democracy Will Prevail

by Saad Hafiz
January 13, 2021
Pro-Trump protester in front of Capitol Hill.
Opinion

Riots at Capitol Hill: Darkness Before the Dawn?

by Stacy Gallin
January 8, 2021
Playing the Un-Naming Game in New York Is Harder Than It Seems
Featured

Pandenomics: The High Cost of Living While Undocumented in the United States

by Benjamin Waddell
December 22, 2020
People holding up banners to defend DACA.
Featured

DACA’s Return and the Need for Action From Incoming Biden-Harris Administration

by Alessandra Bazo Vienrich
December 16, 2020
Next Post
Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

Looking Back: Was Rex Tillerson the Worst Secretary of State Ever?

Goldman Sachs is under scrutiny in connection to the 1MDB scandal

Malaysia Files Charges Against 17 Current, Ex-Goldman Execs Over 1MDB

Recommended

Medical personnel is given the Pfizer-Biontech Covid-19 corona virus vaccine at the Favoriten Clinic in Vienna, Austria, on December 27, 2020

The Vaccine Battle Highlights the Need to Communicate Science

January 19, 2021
Beggars

Rights Court Condemns Switzerland for Fining Beggar

January 19, 2021
Central African Republic's Faustin Archange Touadéra.

Two UN Troops Killed in C. Africa as President’s Re-election Confirmed

January 19, 2021
Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny.

UN Rights Office Urges Navalny’s Immediate Release

January 18, 2021
The filing was submitted by Justice Department lawyers on Thursday, January 14.

US Rioters Sought to ‘Capture and Assassinate’ Lawmakers at Capitol: Prosecutors

January 15, 2021
Biden proposes raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Biden Unveils $1.9 Tn Economic Plan as US Recovery Buckles

January 14, 2021

Opinion

Medical personnel is given the Pfizer-Biontech Covid-19 corona virus vaccine at the Favoriten Clinic in Vienna, Austria, on December 27, 2020

The Vaccine Battle Highlights the Need to Communicate Science

January 19, 2021
President Donald Trump in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House.

Threatening Democracy: The Choice Between Progress and Extremism Has Never Been So Clear

January 13, 2021
Jake Angeli speaks to a US Capitol Police officer.

American Democracy Will Prevail

January 13, 2021
Pro-Trump protester in front of Capitol Hill.

Riots at Capitol Hill: Darkness Before the Dawn?

January 8, 2021
Volunteers are given the Moderna vaccine on August 5, 2020, in Detroit, Michigan.

Who’s First-in-Line for the Vaccine? A Classic Problem in Medical Ethics

December 30, 2020
A sorghum farmer inspects her small grains crop thriving in the dry conditions in March in the Mutoko rural area of Zimbabwe

The 10-Year Food Systems Revolution Must Start Now

December 22, 2020
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post