The Supreme Court makes a hard right turn — and the nation lurches backward | Editorial

Last year, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett famously said, “This court is not composed of a bunch of partisan hacks.” Then the ultraconservative wing of the court went out and did its best to try to prove Barrett wrong.

The Supreme Court took a wrecking ball to abortion rights, climate change regulation, gun safety legislation, and the separation of church and state. The rulings undermine the promise in the Declaration of Independence regarding “certain unalienable rights” that include “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” — something even the Kansas Supreme Court cited in its 2019 landmark ruling that found those who are pregnant have a right to make decisions about their body.

The recent rulings by the high court run counter to public opinion polls that show the majority of Americans support abortion rights, increased climate change regulations, gun control, and the separation of church and state.

In overturning Roe v. Wade, the nearly 50-year-old ruling that legalized abortion, and a 100-year-old law in New York that limited licenses to carry a gun outside the home, the Supreme Court disregarded stare decisis, the long-standing principle that says courts adhere to precedents. By stripping away a fundamental right for the first time and upending settled law, the conservative justices showed they are hellbent on imposing their own political and religious views on the country rather than following the rule of law.

» READ MORE: With Roe decision, Supreme Court sneers at precedent — and places women’s health in jeopardy | Editorial

Even Chief Justice John Roberts called the reversal of Roe v. Wade a “serious jolt to the legal system.” The recent rulings were also a jolt to the one branch of government that was supposed to be above politics. Instead, the term that just ended was the most conservative since 1931.

More shameful, Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion overturning Roe v. Wade applied warped legal logic that could lead to other individual rights being stripped away, such as gay marriage and access to contraception — a possibility that Justice Clarence Thomas invoked in a concurring opinion.

Even more alarming, the Supreme Court’s emboldened conservative supermajority is just getting warmed up. In the fall, the court plans to take up cases that could further restrict voting rights, affirmative action, gay rights, and state courts’ power over elections. The welcome addition of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson will not change the balance of power.

In exercising their raw political power, the conservative justices are also inflicting lasting damage to the institution. Public confidence in the Supreme Court has dropped to its lowest level on record. It doesn’t help that many of the justices behind the right-wing push began their lifetime appointments under a cloud.

Two justices — Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh — were each accused of sexual harassment. Neil Gorsuch’s seat was secured in a heist engineered by Senate Republicans who blocked President Barack Obama’s nominee. The same Senate then turned around and rammed through Barrett’s nomination on the eve of the 2020 presidential election.

» READ MORE: The Supreme Court has a giant legitimacy crisis, which means so does America | Will Bunch

So, what can be done about a runaway Supreme Court that polls show is out of step with public opinion and, some could argue, 21st-century America?

One small step would be for Congress to pass a law requiring the Supreme Court to adopt a code of ethics. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi outlined several legislative steps that could be taken in response to the court’s overturning Roe. But passage of laws to address issues the Supreme Court is undoing is all but impossible under the current divided and gridlocked Congress.

That is all the more reason why those who support fundamental rights must do their civic duty. As President Joe Biden said: “If … you think this decision by the court was an outrage or a significant mistake, vote. Show up and vote. Vote in the off-year, and vote, vote, vote! That’s how we’ll change it.”

On the ballot for the foreseeable future are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.