Radical justices are doing serious, possibly irrepealable damage to the Supreme Court on which they sit.
When the draft abortion opinion leaked, I wrote here that by “slapping two-thirds of the country in the face [those who oppose overturning Roe], the Court will have sacrificed its legitimacy at a time when restoring it may be crucial to preserving democracy.”
Just 25 percent repose “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court, down 11 points from a year ago and 5 points lower than the next worse showing ever.
Gallup recorded declining confidence in most institutions, but the drop for the Supreme Court was roughly twice that for comparable institutions.
Confirmed despite the allegations, Thomas uses his court seat to be a ringleader in the effort to roll back rights. It was his opinion that suggested undoing the right to contraception and gay rights, as well as abortion rights.
It’s easy to understand why Americans lost faith in the court.
No institution can retain credibility with the American people while taking away their rights and endangering their families. No institution can retain support while violating the core values of those they’re supposed to serve.
Second, Americans now clearly see that Supreme Court justices are not exemplars of integrity and virtue, but liars and prevaricators, willing to say anything to achieve their personal and ideological ambitions.
A well-deserved perjury investigation would, I’m sure, yield some devastating details about both their earlier statements on Roe and about how the sherpas ushering them through confirmation advised them to offer misleading answers to questions on the issue.
Why would people repose trust in dishonest judges just angling for a better job?
A Quinnipiac poll, before the recent rulings, found 63 percent believing the Supreme Court is “mainly motivated by politics,” while just 32 percent thought the court was “mainly motivated by the law.”
In the gun case, the justices overruled state law. In reversing Roe, they say states should decide. But with the ink barely dry on the opinion, Republican leaders are flip-flopping again, backing a national ban on abortion and urging state laws that would punish abortion providers in states that protect the right to choose.
Once a revered institution, the Supreme Court is now reviled.
The justices have only themselves to blame for their misdeeds and radical overreach, but all of us will suffer the consequences — those stemming from the rulings themselves and those resulting from the damage the justices have done to the court’s legitimacy.
Mellman is president of The Mellman Group and has helped elect 30 U.S. senators, 12 governors and dozens of House members. Mellman served as pollster to Senate Democratic leaders for over 20 years, as president of the American Association of Political Consultants, and is president of Democratic Majority for Israel.