A U.S. Supreme Court Full Of Right-Wing Conspiracy Theories And Lies
'The place sounds like it's imploding': Analysis sheds light on atmosphere at SCOTUS following draft leak on abortion.
A handful of aloof, unelected judges have been turning what's supposed to be a citadel of justice into an unrestrained political instrument for instituting autocratic, plutocratic, theocratic power over us.
There's even a smoking gun revealing the origins of the plot. It's a confidential memo to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, written in 1971 by Lewis Powell—at the time a rich corporate lawyer, consigliere for Big Tobacco and a Phillip Morris board member.
In his memo, Powell lamented that the likes of Ralph Nader were getting media coverage and legislative action by accusing upstanding corporate citizens (like cigarette makers) of profiteering from wrongdoings such as intentionally selling dangerous products. Powell wailed that poor little corporate America wasn't getting the respect it deserved from lawmakers, nor did it have its fair share of power over the nation's political system. You can practically hear Powell sobbing when he concludes that "with respect to the course of legislation and government action, the American business executive is truly the 'forgotten man.'"
To get there, Powell's memo proposed a novel point of attack he labelled "Neglected Opportunity in the Courts."
He noted that "with an activist-minded Supreme Court, the judiciary may be the most important instrument for social, economic, and political change"—by which he meant structural changes that empower moneyed interests over workers, consumers, et al. Powell proceeds to specify judicial maneuvers for the Chamber and its big funders, conceding that the aggressive offensive "would require far more generous financial support from American corporations. ... But the opportunity merits the necessary effort."
Just two months after Powell sent his memo, Nixon awarded him a seat on the Supreme Court. Although few Americans have ever heard of him, Powell spent the next 15 years on the bench advancing corporate power over us, including writing a 1978 opinion that Roberts and Co. used 32 years later to justify their Citizens United decree.
Today's tightly knit Republican majority on the court did not come together by happenstance—and certainly not because any one of them was the brightest, most fair-minded choice in the land. All were hand-picked by the consortium and escorted to third-branch rule specifically because they could be counted on the use their lifetime appointments to make our laws accord with the GOP's right-wing agenda and to return to their imagined ideal of the grand old days of pre-1930s corporate supremacy. This is a direct special-interest assault on workaday Americans and on the very idea of America.
NPR's Nina Totenberg offered an in-depth look at life "behind the scenes" of the Supreme Court. "The atmosphere behind the scenes is so ugly that, as one source put it, 'the place sounds like it's imploding.' She went on to share a public example of the internal problems within the court, citing Justice Clarence Thomas remarks from a speech made a few weeks ago. At the time, Thomas suggested that he "no longer trusts his colleagues."
"When you lose that trust, especially in the institution that I'm in, it changes the institution fundamentally," he told a conservative group. "You begin to look over your shoulder. It's like kind of an infidelity that you can explain it but you can't undo it."
More specifically, he appeared to imply that he didn't trust Chief Justice John Roberts. "The court that was together 11 year(s) was a fabulous court. It was one you look forward to being a part of," he said.
Offering more insight into the time period Thomas spoke of, Totenberg wrote, "Those 11 years were when the chief justice was William Rehnquist, who died in 2005 and was succeeded by Roberts, who, ironically, had been one of Rehnquist's clerks many years earlier."
Totenberg went on to highlight the "much bigger" and more problematic leak. "There is a much bigger and, in fact, unprecedented leak to deal with — an actual draft opinion reversing a half-century of abortion precedents," she wrote. "The chief justice called the leak 'a betrayal' and ordered the Supreme Court marshal to conduct an internal investigation. But the investigation may only be adding to problems at the court."
Another problem centers around the SCOTUS marshal in place to oversee the investigative probe. Neither he nor SCOTUS law enforcement has the investigative experience needed to conduct a proper investigation. Those that are experienced have described these types of "leak inquiries" as "nightmares."
Glenn Fine — who previously served as the inspector general for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Department of Defense for both Democratic and Republican White House administrations has conducted similar investigations — has also weighed in on the latest probe.
He began by saying, "we would be told that ... only a few people had access to the material that had been leaked. Only a few individuals were at the key meeting or worked on the document."
But also said, "'invariably when we probed the universe of people who had access,' the number expanded 'exponentially.'"
In wake of the investigation, law clerks are also seeking legal advice as they determine whether or not they need representation. According to Totenberg, "all of this presents its own ethical problems, since these law firms do have cases in front of the Supreme Court."
She added, "As for the court itself, it is not in a good place."
