Batting .500
Dating back to 1969 14 out of 18 Supreme Court Justices have been appointed by Republican presidents. By 1992 when Casey v. Planned uphel Roe v. Wade, eight of the court’s nine justices were appointed by Republican Presidents. The Federalist Society was founded 1982 with the goal of seating as many conservative originalist judges on the Federal Judiciary. The Society has an annual budget of over $20 million, no comparable counterpart on the left, and in 2016 candidate Donald Trump basically outsourced his Supreme Court picks to the society. Putting conservative judges on the court has for decades been one of the right’s most important goals. Even after Trump illegally paid hush money to a porn star he had an affair with while his third wife was pregnant, after he ran a fake charity, after Trump was caught on tape bragging about groping women, and after he says he never asked G-d for forgiveness, 80% of Evangelicals as well as 60% of devout Catholics continue to support him because he is pro-life. In 2020 he became the first President ever to speak at the March for Life and throughout his Presidency he has repeatedly championed the pro-life issue. On other soical issues, like gay marriage, Trump is one of the most socially liberal Presidents in history. No matter how many times Trump says recently deceased veterans are in hell, no matter how many thousands of lies he tells, no matter how many tweet he send out at 3 in the morning, or how many people die of coronavirus sincere pro-lifers can genuinely believe that the deliberate murder of one million babies a year trumps all that. If you believe, as I do and as science teaches, that abortion constitutes the murder of an innocent human, no other issue can be more important. Even someone who disagreed strongly with Trump on every other issuewould have to vote for him if they believed Trump would help end abortion. In this week’s Burstock v. Harris Funeral Homes decision, a 6–3 majority ruled that Anthony Stephens was in fact a woman and was protected by the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The desicion doesn’t have anything to do with abortion and it is impossible to predict it’s effects, but it fortells trouble ahead. Not only did Bush 43 Appointee Chief Justice John Roberts vote along with the courts four liberals, but Trump’s first appointee, Justice Niel Gorsuch. After conservate stalwart Antonin Scalia died in february 2016 Senate republicans refused to fill the seat and waited for Obama’s term to expire. Even after Trump was the republican nominee and republicans looked like they were heading for a historic landslide defeat, the senate republicans wouldn’t hold a vote on 63 year-old Judge Merrick Garland. It was an incredibly daring bet and one that against all odds paid off when Trump was elected. In the early hours of wednesday November 9th, Roe v. Wade looked like it was as in danger as it had ever been. Trump later nominated Justice Gorsuch who was approved by the Republican Senate. In 2018 after the court’s swing vote Anthony Kennedy retired, Trump appointed staunchly conservative Brett Kavanaugh to fill the seat. After a bitter fight over sexual assault allegations he was narrowly elevated to the court after the pro-choice Senator Susan Collins voted to confirm.
Why is Roe v Wade still the law of the land, as well Obergefell that mandated Gay MArriage, and why do most cities ignore the Heller desicon and pass onerous gun control laws? Because every republican President since Eisenhower has basically batted .500. The seven republican Presidents since have appointed roughly one conservate Justice for every moderate to liberal Justice. Eisenhower appointed two staunch conservatives, Justice Harlan and justice Whittaker, two liberals Chief Justice Warren and Justice brennan, Justice Stewart who was conservative leaning. The Warren Court wound ub being one of the most liberal and activist courts and history and Eisenhower later recounted the appointing Warren to the Court in exchange for his endorsement was one of his biggest mistakes. Nixon appointed two conservatives, Justice Reihnquist and Justice Powell who played an important role in getting corporations deeply involved in politics. Nixon also appointed a liberal Justice Blackmun, and a moderate, Chief Justice Burger. Burger was the Bernie sanders of the court in that he thought the US justice system should be more scandanavian like with less protections for the accused. Three of Nixon’s appointees voted to force him to hand over the tapes. President Ford appointed the liberal leaning Justice Stevens. Reagan ran on appointing judges opposed to abortion and judicial activism. Instead he appointed pro-choice Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony Kennedy. He also appointed Justice Scalia who led the courts conservative wing for three decades. Bush 41 appointed Justice Souter who had previously been a conservative but then became a liberal as soon as he was appointed. After a bitter fight over sexual harassment allegations, Justice Thomas was confirmed to the court. Justice Thomas, who formerly studied for the Priesthood, has always been the most conservative judge on the court. Bush 43 appointed conservative Justice Alito, and previously rock-ribbed conservative to moderate Chief Justice Roberts. Trump just like both of the Bushes has appointed one conservative in Justice Kavanaugh, and one moderate in Justice Gorsuch. Meanwhile President Clinton and Obama appointed four justices to the court all hardcore liberals whom we don’t even have to wait to know how they’ll vote. Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Keagan would hardly vote differently if they were bribed by the DNC. Justice Ginsburg openly criticized Trump and wore a collar at his inauguration to signal her distaste of him. The liberal justices are so committed to their cause that they will wait until there is a Democrat in the White House and majority in the Senate to resign no matter how sick they are. I have no doubt Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s family would keep her on life support until Trump left office. Even if they didn’t want to I’m sure a judge would force them to. That means that if Biden is elected octogenarian Justices Ginsburg and Breyer will immediately retire and be replaced by their younger ideological peers. If Trump somehow wins they will never step down, even if they die they will be kept on ice like a South American dictator. There will be some pressure on septuagenarian conservative Justices Thomas and Alito to resign and if they do I predict one will be replaced by a conservative and one will be replaced by a David Souter wannabe. If conservatives were serious they would move to impeach Justices like Souter and even Roberts on the basis that they misled Senators on their legal philosophy. Would Democratic Senators vote against the removal of Republican-appointed Justices? It would send a message to Judges that they are not free to say one thing in their confirmation hearing and then hand down lawless decisions without ever facing consequences.
There are now four liberals, three conservatives, and two swing voters on the court. Justice gorsuch and Chief Justice Roberts will still reliably vote against unions, workers rights, in favor of corporate power, monopoly, and if need be decide an election in the Republican candidates favor. In other words they will still do the bidding of the corporate interests Justice Powell recruited to the conservative cause with his famous 1971 memo. But gay marriage, abortion in the third trimester, men being women, and unfettered illegal immigration are here to stay. If Trump wins in 2020 it will be because conservative Christians still have faith in him to appoint less worse judges. The hundreds of millions of dollars, millions of hours, and family relationships severed in the fight for a conservative majority on the court have not been a total waste, free speech is still more or less intact and that’s saying something.
The problem with the court is that nominees have to be confirmed by the senate. In 1987 the democrats controlled the Senate and were able to bork Bork. Even today there are 53 republican senators but only 51 pro-lifers. Senator Suan Collins is better than Alexandria ocasio cortez but that’s not good enough. A republican presidents often choose business friendly nominees over socially conservative ones. Also Supreme Court justices must live in the DC area most of the year and the best way to fit in with society is to vote like RBG. The best thing conservatives could do would be to move the court to Wheeling, West Virginia. It would bring jobs and the current building could be turned into the new US Department of Black Trans Lives Matter, a win for all.
