Are you on the fence for 2024? Do you plan to sit out the election in protest? Do you still think that elections don’t matter?
Look no further than recent 6-3 decisions by the United States Supreme Court. On the heels of its disastrous and divisive ruling on abortion (overturning 50 years of precedent) and its highly dangerous ruling on guns, the Supreme Court published three decisions that drastically effect the rights of people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, and people struggling financially (most often minority citizens).
These cases also overturn decades of precedent. What happened to the majority’s promised adherence to the doctrine of stare decisis? These three opinions devastate affirmative action, permit discrimination against same sex couples, and prohibit POTUS from invoking the HEROES Act to reduce student loan debt.
Let’s take a look at what this 6-3 Supremist Court majority is up to:
Affirmative Action
In the affirmative action decision, the Court decided to end certain race-based policies. The majority claims that America has reached a state of color-blindness, thus affirmative action is no longer necessary. Justice Sonia Sotomayor responds to this absurd notion in language far better than anything I could conjure up:
“The Court cements a superficial rule of colorblindness as a constitutional principle in an endemically segregated society where race has always mattered and continues to matter...the majority’s vision of race neutrality will entrench racial segregation in higher education because racial inequality will persist so long as it is ignored.”
The obvious problem with this notion of “fair” colorblindness is that it is rooted in (as Justice Sotomayor points out) an endemic and historically unfair system. Today’s teachers are vilified when they dare to attempt to teach actual history rather than the sugar-coated version advanced by the system’s White creators.
Being ‘colorblind” benefits those citizens who created the America White-biased system in the first instance, White people. This decision smacks of Plessy v. Ferguson and ‘separate but equal.’ In this new, colorblind society, are legacy admissions unconstitutional? ‘No,’ say the conservatives. ‘Those preferences are based on money, not race.’ Huh?
Protecting Religious Views
If this decision isn’t bad enough, we have the latest affront to the LGBTQ+ community. A “Christian” web designer argued she should not be required to design a wedding website for a same-sex couple. Very “Christian” of her, wasn’t it?
Justice Neil Gorsuch, a card-carrying member of the party that seeks to ban books, argued that the web designer had the equivalent of an artist’s (pictures, films, drawings, writings) First Amendment right in choosing her clientele. (Please tell that to Ron DeSantis, Your Honor.) Justice Sotomayor again sums up the decision succinctly. She argues that the Court, for the first time in its history, granted:
“a business open to the public a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class.”
What class of people’s rights will this Supremist Court deny next? Race? Religion? National origin? Disability? Be careful White Christians, as Martin Niemoller famously predicted during WW II, when they come for you, there will be no one left to help you.
Student Loan Forgiveness
The final, more subtle slap-in-the-face is the Supremacist Court’s decision on student loan forgiveness. Just after 9-11, Congress passed the HEROES Act (Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students), to allow for forgiveness of debt during certain periods of hardship, like a war or national emergency.
Donald Trump invoked the HEROES Act in 2020 during the COVID crisis. He paused student loan repayment requirements and suspended interest accrual. The six Republican led states that sued President Biden didn’t squawk one bit when Trump did this. Neither did the high court.
Suddenly, because Biden’s the president, these actions require congressional approval. Suddenly, there is a “major question.” I’m not convinced these states had standing to protest, but that important requirement is meaningless in this political/judicial era of judging by political agenda.
Like Justice Sotomayor in the two previous decisions, Justice Elena Kagan called ‘bullshit.’ Well, not exactly, she’s a class act. I call bullshit—here’s what she said:
“The statute provides the secretary with broad authority to give emergency relief to student-loan borrowers . . . What the secretary did fits comfortably within that delegation.”
While the statute clearly grants the Biden Administration the same authority that the Trump Administration had and used without challenge, Justice Kagan calls out, in not-too-subtle terms, the hypocrisy and politization of the Court:
“The question . . . is ‘who has the authority’ to make such significant calls?’ The answer, as is now becoming commonplace, is this Court.”
Amen, Sister!
The Consequences of the 6-3 Supremacist Majority
My fellow Americans, get used to that 6-3 ratio. You are going to be seeing it quite often over the next few years. The White House occupant is of enormous consequence to our country. Whether you liked or hated the 2020 Democratic candidate, her election would not have thrown our country into turmoil, constitutional of otherwise. When her husband was president, he gave us a balanced budget and the gifts of Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer.
The man responsible for our current national nightmare wants his job back. Remember these two words on election day—Supreme Court.
Vote!
If you haven’t done so already, please check out Mark Bello’s ripped-from-the-headlines legal thrillers, all available online at Amazon and other major online booksellers. He has quite the hero in Attorney Zachary Blake, who fights for justice on all fronts. His books are Betrayal of Faith, Betrayal of Justice, Betrayal in Blue, Betrayal in Black, Betrayal High, Supreme Betrayal, Betrayal at the Border, You Have the Right to Remain Silent and his latest, and his latest, “The Final Steps – A Harbor Springs Cozy Legal Mystery. Also, he’s written a wonderful children’s book about bullying, “Happy Jack, Sad Jack.” For more info, just check markmbello.com.