The Supreme Court serves Trump and MAGA, and to hell with democracy

Among the most stark and depressing realities about America in 2024: We are stuck with a Supreme Court that represents the crowning achievement of an activist conservative plutocracy and serves a regressive agenda that undermines democracy. 

Look at what just happened: The Court, with three of the nine justices selected by Trump, pretty much guaranteed that he will not be tried for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection before November’s election, if at all. 

The question of whether Trump has “total immunity” from prosecution should have been decided by now; he was indicted seven months ago and the original trial date was to be tomorrow, March 4. And yet the Court put off a hearing on the matter until the week of April 22. It probably won’t issue a ruling until June, before leaving for summer vacation. And isn’t that swell?

How is American democracy served by this delay?

You can say that the question of presidential immunity is momentous and, therefore, the Court is treating it that way. But only the weak of intellect would believe that now because, by now, it’s clear what we have: A conservative supermajority that owes its power to Trump, McConnell and a coalition of right-wing ideologues, corporate interests and wealthy individuals who see the Court as the capstone of a conservative revolution that morphed from relatively mild Reaganism into something like authoritarianism marching with torches toward fascism. They want to see Trump back in the White House.

John Oliver’s take-down of Clarence Thomas was superb. But you did not need this episode of “Last Week Tonight” to get a bad feeling about the Supreme Court, to see how shamelessly biased it has become in service to radical conservatism.

Look at the polling on this: In the years since Citizens United and, later, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Court has enjoyed approval among only about 40% to 43% of Americans, according to Gallup. That’s considered historically low, but it generally tracks with support of Trump. And it makes sense. Trumpies of all stripes, from gun-toting white supremacists to college-educated suits, must think the Supreme Court is just dandy. Rulings on guns, voting rights, affirmative action, the environment, gender discrimination — all have been as regressive as possible. 

I no longer ask anyone to “pardon my cynicism” because it’s pretty clear what’s happening with this Court and what will continue to happen.

How does all this undermine democracy? A Supreme Court that enjoys credibility with only 40% of Americans is a court that most of the country does not trust to be fair and just. We no longer expect the Supreme Court to avoid favoring any particular interest or person; we see the Court as just another political faction, stacked against anything that smells of progressivism or even moderation. “Elections have consequences,” we’ve been told countless times, and it was ever thus, and never truer than in 2016 and again this year.

Elie Mystal of The Nation says we have to stop seeing the Supreme Court, liberals as well as conservatives, as super gods of the law and above the law. I suggest reading his most recent essay; it has some radical ideas, some of them good. But the cynic in me sees little change in the near future. We are stuck, good and hard.