SCOTUS Hurtles The USA Towards Dictatorship

The US Supreme Court proves yet again why it is our nation's greatest blockade towards justice

As I’ve written before, the U.S. Supreme Court has—throughout its history—consistently undermined human rights and human dignity in the United States. Now, the Court continues its shameful history with at least six new reckless rulings that ultimately reshape and undermine our democracy for the worse. It is not an overstatement to say this further fast-tracks us towards fascism and dictatorship.

Here’s a recap of six of Court’s most egregious rulings this session, and how it affects us. Let’s Address This.

The justices of the Supreme Court. Credit: Erin Schaff/The New York Times

1. Presidential Immunity Expanded

Raise your hand if you remember learning about the separation of powers, and the fact that we have a democratically elected President with limited powers, not a fascist empowered dictator with unlimited powers? The Supreme Court is here to tell you that you’re wrong. The Court has ruled that while the President has no immunity for unofficial acts, a President can claim immunity for allegedly unofficial acts if they can argue these acts were part of their official duties. Justice Sonia Sotomayor accurately lambasted the absurdity of this ruling:

“Today’s decision to grant former Presidents criminal immunity reshapes the institution of the Presidency. It makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and system of Government, that no man is above the law. The majority today endorses an expansive vision of Presidential immunity that was never recognized by the Founders, any sitting President, the Executive Branch, or even President Trump’s lawyers, until now. Settled understandings of the Constitution are of little use to the majority in this case, and so it ignores them.

This ruling additionally delays significant legal cases past critical election dates, laying the groundwork for potential abuse of presidential power and further entrenching autocracy. As long as the President can make some excuse that his obviously criminal act was in pursuit of some official presidential duty, then the current Supreme Court holds that the President gets absolute immunity. That is, in a word, absurd, and is made worse given that the Supreme Court has also effectively legalized bribery.

2. Bribery Legalized

Perhaps the most obviously recognized form of corruption is bribery. It’s why politicians have a bad rep, rightfully, for often favoring the wealthy and well connected while undermining fairness for everyone else. This week the Supreme Court ruled that maybe bribery isn’t so bad after all? As Katya Schwenk of Jacobin summarizes:

The court’s conservative supermajority ruled 6–3 in Snyder v. United States, overturning the 2019 corruption conviction of an Indiana mayor who pocketed $13,000 from a local business tycoon after ensuring the company got a major town contract. The justices ruled that such bribes were not against the law.

This decision effectively makes bribery acceptable, undermining the integrity of our public officials and eroding public trust in government. In one way it removes the facade of the 2010 Citizens United ruling that allowed for unlimited dark money and corporate money to enter political campaigns. Now, billionaires don’t have to jump through the veneer of campaign donations to buy their favorite politicians—they can just bribe politicians directly. All thanks to our wonderful Supreme Court.

3. Homelessness Criminalized

Not content with legalizing bribery, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Martin v. Boise that it is legal for cities to criminalize homelessness—because apparently sleeping is a crime. Understand how sinister and truly evil this ruling is. In 1865, the 13th Amendment codified prison slavery, leading to the passage of vagrancy laws to criminalize people on the street—forcing many formerly enslaved people back into prison slave labor. Now, in 2024, SCOTUS criminalizes homelessness, forcing people on the street into prison slave labor. Slavery is making a SCOTUS endorsed comeback, again.

And this is not hyperbole. Consider that housing is 80% more expensive now than just four years ago, and with 78% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, this ruling effectively sanctions modern prison slave labor for the prison industrial complex by forcing homeless people into prison. This SCOTUS ruling is reminiscent of how, in 1933, Nazis passed a law "against Habitual & Dangerous Criminals,” which relocated beggars, the homeless, and the unemployed to concentration camps.

Even worse, the Nazis built their laws off USA’s Jim Crow laws. As Professor James Q. Whitman writes in his book, Hitler’s American Model:

The Nuremberg Laws were crafted with considerable attention to the precedents American race laws had to offer. German praise for American practices, already found in Hitler's Mein Kampf, was continuous throughout the early 1930s, and the most radical Nazi lawyers were eager advocates of the use of American models. Both American citizenship and anti-miscegenation laws proved directly relevant to the two principal Nuremberg Laws—the Citizenship Law and the Blood Law.

And to paraphrase Professor Whitman, the ultimate, ugly irony is that when Nazis rejected American practices, it was sometimes not because they found them too enlightened, but too harsh. And today the Supreme Court revives laws so harsh even genocidal Nazis thought they were too extreme.

4. Insurrection Decriminalized

I’m old enough to remember when insurrection was considered a bad thing. No more, thanks to the Supreme Court. As Ian Millhauser writes for Vox:

On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that a federal law, which states that anyone who “obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so” commits a very serious federal crime, does not actually apply to everyone who obstructs, influences, or impedes an official proceeding. The Court made this ruling in a case involving a January 6 insurrectionist. Approximately 330 people who allegedly participated in that insurrection are charged with violating the statute at issue in Fischer v. United States, including Donald Trump. Friday’s decision could potentially undermine much of the Justice Department’s ability to prosecute hundreds of people who attacked the U.S. Capitol.

Where does this end? Can people walk into Congress right now and smear feces on the wall and claim it is not an obstruction? What about a state legislature? City Council? If feces is considered OK, what about vomit? Where does the Supreme Court draw the line to these absurdities? Who knows—but one thing is for sure—this ruling is another step towards fascism and rule of might, as opposed to rule of justice.

5. Abortion Care Denied (To Kill More Women)

Two years ago the Supreme Court overturned a half century of precedent when they overturned Roe. The results have been devastating. Mothers in states with abortion bans are three times more likely to die now, than before Roe was overturned. Infant mortality has spiked by nearly 13% in states that ban abortion care.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to dismiss a case on providing abortion care to women whose life is at risk, and did so while refusing to rule on the merits of the case. This sends the case back to lower courts to decide what to do—meanwhile women continue to die. As NPR reports:

Idaho is one of six states that have abortion bans that do not include exceptions for the health of the mother. The other states are South Dakota, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Mississippi. The federal government has a law known as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act – or EMTALA – which says that anyone who comes into the emergency room must be stabilized before they’re discharged or transferred. The Biden administration argued that should apply, even if the treatment is an abortion, and the patient is in a state that bans abortion with very limited exceptions. The court, in a 6-3 vote, dismissed the case, without ruling on its merits. The court did not establish that EMTALA is the standard across the country.

So while for now, in Idaho ER doctors can provide abortion healthcare to women whose life is at risk, the other five states have no such obligation. Moreover, the fact that a woman needs to be literally on her death bed before doctors act is beyond dystopian, and speaks to why maternal mortality rates have tripled since Roe was overturned. The Supreme Court had a chance to undo the harm they’ve done, at least in part, but instead they’ve chosen a deliberate policy that demonstrably kills more women and babies.

6. Corporate Pollution Unchecked

Finally, the Supreme Court decided that we do not actually need clean air, land, or water. In a significant shift, SCOTUS has ruled that federal environmental agencies no longer have the authority to define regulations unless explicitly outlined by Congress. As Amy Howe writes for SCOTUSblog:

By a vote of 6-3, the justices overruled their landmark 1984 decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, which gave rise to the doctrine known as the Chevron doctrine. Under that doctrine, if Congress has not directly addressed the question at the center of a dispute, a court was required to uphold the agency’s interpretation of the statute as long as it was reasonable. But in a 35-page ruling by Chief Justice John Roberts, the justices rejected that doctrine, calling it “fundamentally misguided.”

This decision overturns a 1984 Chevron case ruling that empowered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate pollution. Now, corporations can pollute at will, with no governmental oversight. So much for the guidance of experts, combatting climate change, or ensuring corporations are regulated by government and not vice versa. As we experience existential climate change as the biggest threat modern humans have ever faced (per the UN), you can thank the Supreme Court for ensuring it only gets worse from here.

In Conclusion

As I have written before, it is critical we expand the Court—but we cannot stop there. The Supreme Court’s rulings this session represent a significant shift towards authoritarianism, undermining democratic principles, and increasing the power of corporations and the wealthy elite. The historical parallels to Jim Crow America and Nazi Germany are chilling, reminding us of the dangers of unchecked power and the importance of safeguarding our democratic institutions. The Court’s decisions threatens the very foundation of our democracy.

In addition to expanding the Court, Congress must impeach those justices who have engaged in corruption and bribery, and enact meaningful ethics reform. Or, as the Supreme Court ruled, another insurrection should Trump lose the 2024 election is the new norm. As are political executions should Trump win.

In either case, our country continues to hurtle towards fascism, courtesy of the Supreme Court of the United States.