There are now six solidly conservative justices, all appointed by Republican presidents, and only three liberals. The threatened reversal of Roe v Wade may portend a string of highly charged, polarising rulings
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskIt is not clear who leaked the draft or why. Justices can change their votes up until the moment a ruling is made public, sowould invite howling from the left and exultation from the right.
There are now six solidly conservative justices, all appointed by Republican presidents, and only three liberals, all seated by Democrats. Chief Justice Roberts, the last median jurist of the five-decade balancing act, can no longer curb the conservative majority. The threatened reversal ofThere is no quick way for Democrats to remedy this, since the constitution allows justices to serve “during good behaviour”, meaning as long as they like, provided they are not impeached.
Yet the court is taking more decisions without laying out its reasoning, another habit that has elicited complaints from the left. Two days after Justice Barrett’s appearance, for instance, it revived a Trump-administration rule that had limited states’ power to protect rivers from pollution under the Clean Water Act, in a 5-4 decision released without any written opinion. What is more,had arrived at the court on its emergency or “shadow” docket—a shortcut supposedly reserved for urgent matters.
The court’s decision to let the Texan law stand also raised eyebrows because it was designed expressly to thwart, and thus the court’s own authority. The law barred Texan officials from enforcing the ban on abortions, thus shielding them from legal challenges. But it empowered private individuals to sue anyone who helps a woman get an abortion. Those found guilty of doing so are to be fined $10,000, which would be passed as a bounty to the plaintiff.
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