Conservatives Hate Activist Judges — Except When They Don’t*
“The fear of rule by unelected bureaucrats in government agencies does not justify actual rule by unelected bureaucrats on the bench.” Adrian Vermele, Supreme Court Justices Have Forgotten What The Law Is For.
The conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court has taken on the role of super-legislature. It found a political decision with which it disagrees, manufactured a “case or controversy” where none existed so it could decide the “issue,” and substituted its policy preferences for those of the political branches of government.
As Justice Kagan said in her dissent in Biden v. Nebraska at 4, “the Court, by deciding this case, exercises authority it does not have. It violates the Constitution.” This clear constitutional overreach should concern everyone, regardless of their position on student debt relief or the possibility a business owner may someday be asked to design a website for a same sex couple.
The Supreme Court’s jurisdiction is constitutionally limited to deciding actual “cases and controversies,” not rendering advisory opinions on hypotheticals or resolving matters in which parties disagree but have no actual stake in the outcome of the case.
Then, to substitute its policy preferences for those of the political branches of government, the conservative…