On Friday evening, December 11, the Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit brought by Texas and other states challenging the results of the presidential election in other states. As expected, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case. Consistent with their views in other cases seeking original jurisdiction, Justices Alito and Thomas indicated that they would have allowed the case to be filed but would grant no other relief. This is a major rebuke to Donald Trump and to the Republican Party. However, journalists will need to explain to the American people that the Supreme Court was unanimous in thinking that Texas had no basis to bring this lawsuit. At a moment of constitutional crisis, the Court itself should have stepped up and explained in more detail exactly why it was wrong to bring this case. It had the power to do that and should have. I had planned to write a short piece explaining why, but Tom Goldstein already has done this well over at Scotusblog in a great editorial.
This sounds right to me. It is hardly a radical political act to give a few details about WHY the case was so silly, and dangerous.
Here’s a passage from the Tom Goldstein piece, for readers:
“Every once in a long while, the court needs to invest some of its accumulated capital in issuing judgments that are not only legally right but also respond to imminent, tangible threats to the nation. That is particularly appropriate when, as here, the court finds itself being used as a tool to actively undermine faith in our democratic institutions — including by the members of the court’s bar on whom the justices depend to act much more responsibly.
In a time that is so very deeply polarized, I cannot think of a person, group or institution other than the Supreme Court that could do better for the country right now. Supporters of the president who have been gaslighted into believing that there has been a multi-state conspiracy to steal the election recognize that the court is not a liberal institution. If the court will tell the truth, the country will listen.”
What a shame that they didn’t bother.
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