Supreme Court Gifts Trump

The next big thing is here.

I’m wondering what kind of recourse do we have now? The Supreme Court ruled today in a way that is extremely favorable to Trump. The ruling somehow limits the power of lower courts, and appears that it will at the very least affect the birthright citizenship right. I don’t fully understand it, but it doesn’t sound good. The Supreme Court is seemingly saying that if Trump signs an executive order, and even if it’s illegal or unconstitutional, the lower courts cannot stop him. It has to go to the Supreme Court every time.

The court’s dissenting justices, Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson were outraged. Here is an excerpt from an opinion piece in the NY Times by David Firestone, which I recommend you read in its entirety, it’s not long.

“But if the courts can’t stop illegal activity in the White House on a national basis, what good are they? That was the point made by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson in two of the most fervent dissents in recent memory. Both were clearly incredulous that the majority was willing to stand back and let Trump undermine a fundamental principle of citizenship in place for 157 years. Sotomayor, joined by Jackson and Justice Elena Kagan, said the Trump administration knows it can’t win a decision that its order is constitutional, so it is instead playing a devious game: applying the order to as many people as possible who don’t file a lawsuit. “Shamefully,” she wrote, “this court plays along.”

Those without resources to sue, Jackson wrote in a separate dissent, are disproportionately “the poor, the uneducated and the unpopular,” and so they will be subject to Trump’s whims. “This is yet another crack in the foundation of the rule of law,” she wrote, “which requires equality and justice in its application.” It creates two zones, she said: one where the rule of law prevails, and one “zone of lawlessness” where “all bets are off.”

I will spend the evening trying to understand this, and what we can do about it. Perhaps Govenors can help. Trump could do a lot of damage before the midterms in 2026, more than he already has, so I want to find hope that there is something that can be done either by the Democrats in Congress or the lower courts towards fighting back.

Stay calm, I am trying to. We are in this together. Call your representatives, gather with friends. Stay engaged, as tempting as it is to tune out. I really appreciate you. See you tomorrow, hopefully with more clarity.

Bonus drawing!