Pete Hutchison and Michael O’Neill write for Real Clear Policy about the political left’s attack on the judiciary.
The American justice system is the envy of free people around the world. So why is the Progressive Left so hell-bent to undermine it? From the U. S. Supreme Court all the way down to local trial courts, leftist politicians, including the president and vice president of the United States and various members of the United States Congress, are constantly threatening and intimidating the Courts. What is going on?
The answer is simple: power.
Conservatives consider President Trump’s appointment of three U. S. Supreme Court justices among the most important of his achievements. A firm majority of the Court now holds a judicial philosophy that abhors amending the Constitution or legislating from the bench. Particularly with the replacement of progressive megastar Ruth Bader Ginsburg with the principled Amy Comey Barrett, the Left has been calling for expansion of the Court.
Put simply, the Left cannot achieve its radical agenda without the cooperation of sympathetic judges at every level, but especially at the U. S. Supreme Court. Unable to win battles on important issues in state legislatures or in the Congress, the Left has for decades run to courts to accomplish its goals. It has been largely successful. Extremely divisive social issues such as abortion and gay marriage did not gain traction fast enough in legislatures and were instead imposed on the entire country through the courts. And when states pass laws that violate liberal orthodoxy (such as voting protections), a well-funded and sophisticated batch of lawyers and legal organizations stand ready to litigate.
The purported 6-3 split between conservatives and liberals in the Supreme Court’s current makeup, however, has the Left in a panic. Leftists fear the current Court will overturn Roe v. Wade, toss restrictions on 2nd Amendment Rights, reject efforts to drive religion underground, and reject “wokeism” by upholding free speech.
