A False Pretense of Judicial Modesty
The Supreme Court is remaking the law while claiming to preserve the status quo.
TL;DR
- Conservative Supreme Court justices are issuing ambitious legal opinions that expand presidential powers, restrict immigration and gun control, and weaken due process and religious freedom rights.
- These decisions often disguise their radical effects by invoking precedent, making it difficult for the public to recognize the extent of the legal changes.
- The Court has a pattern of overturning or gutting precedent without explicit acknowledgment, as seen in cases concerning independent regulators, the Alien Tort Statute, and the Voting Rights Act.
- This approach, characterized by Gore Vidal's observation that language can be used to disguise rather than illuminate action, undermines the principle of *stare decisis* and erodes public trust in the judiciary.
- The conservative majority appears to be betting that the length and citation-heavy nature of their opinions will shield them from public scrutiny, but the substantive changes to the law remain evident.