Content deleted Content added
Superb Owl (talk | contribs) Ethics - noting Supreme Court Historical Society controversies |
Superb Owl (talk | contribs) →Composition and selection: adding Aronoff critique of dark money donations to Federalist Society and others |
||
Line 567:
The [[United States Electoral College|electoral college]] (which elects the President who nominates the justices) and the [[United States Senate|US Senate]] which confirms the justices, have selection biases that favor rural states that tend to vote Republican, resulting in a conservative Supreme Court.<ref name="Litt-2020">{{Cite book |last=Litt |first=David |title=Democracy in One Book or Less: How It Works, Why It Doesn't, and Why Fixing It Is Easier Than You Think |publisher=Ecco |year=2020 |isbn=978-0-06-287936-3 |page=345}}</ref> Ziblatt and Levitsky estimate that 3 or 4 of the seats held by conservative justices on the court would be held by justices appointed by a Democratic president if the Presidency and Senate were selected directly by the popular vote.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Levitsky |first1=Steven |author-link=Steven Levitsky |title=Tyranny of the Minority: why American democracy reached the breaking point |last2=Ziblatt |first2=Daniel |author-link2=Daniel Ziblatt |date=2023 |publisher=Crown |isbn=978-0-593-44307-1 |edition= |location=New York |chapter=Chapter 6}}</ref> The three Trump appointees to the court were all nominated by a president who finished second in the popular vote and confirmed by Senators representing a minority of Americans.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Balz |first1=Dan |author-link=Dan Balz |last2=Morse |first2=Clara Ence |date=August 18, 2023 |title=American democracy is cracking. These forces help explain why. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/08/18/american-democracy-political-system-failures/ |access-date=September 20, 2023 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en}}</ref> In addition, Clarence Thomas' confirmation and Merrick Garland's blocked confirmation in 2016 were both decided by Senators representing a minority of Americans.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bump |first=Philip |date=December 2, 2021 |title=Analysis {{!}} The minoritarian third of the Supreme Court |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/12/02/minoritarian-third-supreme-court/ |access-date=September 22, 2023 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Greg Price also critiqued the Court as [[Minoritarianism|minority rule]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Price |first=Greg |date=October 6, 2018 |title=Kavanaugh Fourth Justice Picked By Unpopular President |url=https://www.newsweek.com/supreme-court-justices-president-popular-vote-1156542 |access-date=September 21, 2023 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}</ref>
Moreover, the [[Federalist Society]] acted as a filter for judicial nominations during the Trump administration,<ref name="Federalistsociety">{{Cite news |last=Green |first=Jamal |date=May 7, 2019 |title=Trump's Judge Whisperer Promised to Take Our Laws Back to the 1930s |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/05/leonard-leo-federalist-society-new-deal-trump-judges.html |access-date=February 5, 2023 |publisher=Slate |quote=A longtime leader within the Federalist Society, Leo has had Donald Trump's ear on judicial appointments and has been the main curator of the president's list of Supreme Court candidates.}}</ref> ensuring the latest conservative justices lean even further to the right.<ref name="Litt-2020" /> 86% of judges Trump appointed to circuit courts and the Supreme Court were Federalist Society members.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Kroll |first1=Andy |last2=Bernstein |first2=Andrea |last3=Marritz |first3=Ilya |last4=Sweitzer |first4=Nate |date=October 11, 2023 |title=We Don't Talk About Leonard: The Man Behind the Right's Supreme Court Supermajority |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/we-dont-talk-about-leonard-leo-supreme-court-supermajority |access-date=October 20, 2023 |website=ProPublica |language=en}}</ref> David Litt critiques it as "an attempt to impose rigid ideological dogma on a profession once known for intellectual freedom."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Litt |first=David |title=Democracy in One Book or Less: How It Works, Why It Doesn't, and Why Fixing It is Easier Than You Think |date=2020 |isbn=978-0-06-287936-3 |edition=First |location=New York, NY |page=334 |oclc=1120147424}}</ref> Kate Aronoff criticizes the donations from special interests like fossil fuel companies and other dark money groups to the Federalist Society and related organizations seeking to influence lawyers and Supreme Court Justices.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Aronoff |first=Kate |date=October 14, 2020 |title=This Supreme Court Was Designed to Kill Climate Policies |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/159766/supreme-court-designed-kill-climate-policies |access-date=2024-06-19 |work=The New Republic |issn=0028-6583}}</ref>
The 2016 stonewalling of Merrick Garland's confirmation and subsequent filling with Neil Gorsuch has been critiqued as a 'stolen seat' citing precedent from the 20th century of confirmations during election years,<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Stone |first=Geoffrey R. |date=February 1, 2017 |title=Opinion: Sorry, Neil Gorsuch. The Supreme Court Seat Was Already Filled |url=https://time.com/4656196/scotus-neil-gorsuch-geoffrey-stone/ |access-date=March 28, 2024 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cahill |first=Petra |date=November 11, 2016 |title=Empty Supreme Court seat is being 'stolen' by GOP, senator warns |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/empty-supreme-court-seat-being-stolen-republicans-merkley-n682386 |access-date=March 28, 2024 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> while proponents cited three blocked nominations between 1844 and 1866.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Trickey |first=Erick |title=The History of 'Stolen' Supreme Court Seats |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/history-stolen-supreme-court-seats-180962589/ |access-date=March 28, 2024 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref> In recent years, Democrats have accused Republican leaders such as [[Mitch McConnell]] of hypocrisy, as they were instrumental in blocking the nomination of [[Merrick Garland]], but then rushed through the appointment of [[Amy Coney Barrett]], even though both vacancies occurred close to an election.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Levine |first=Marianne |date=September 22, 2020 |title=McConnell fends off accusations of hypocrisy over holding Supreme Court vote |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/21/mcconnell-pushes-back-hypocrisy-supreme-court-419569 |access-date=March 27, 2024 |work=Politico}}</ref>
| |||