Everyday Erinyes #176

Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”

I’ve written about Jeffrey Sterling before, back in 2016, along with other whistleblowers. I had planned this for last week, but it’s really more appropriate for today, since it’s now closer to National Whistleblowers Day, which comes up again on July 30 – if Cheetolini signs it (and if he doesn’t, we can celebrate anyway.) Jeffrey is on my radar now because he has a book coming out in October, and Roots Action has sent out an email announcing it. It includes a new essay from him. His essays are always thought provoking, even if one doesn’t always agree with every point. (The last one, for intance, discussed a scene in King Lear – and how the best human being in it is a character who has one line before Regan stabs him, killing him. Jeffrey is not the first person to notice that, but he wrote well about it.)

His newest essay touches on what the Supreme Court is doing, including one case in which Justice Thomas wrote a very strange opinion- an opinion which really ought to interest the Furies. But I’ll let Jeffrey speak:
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There is so much to talk about, but recently there have been some developments that reminded me of not only the idealism of law in this country I had when I was in law school, but also the ugly truth of the law when I was persecuted by it. When I was in the desolation of prison, I found it quite interesting how my fellow inmates were so acutely aware of the machinations of the Supreme Court. I thought it somewhat sad that a direct impact like incarceration was what encouraged a person to pay attention to the decisions of the highest court of the land. But, that is typical of people outside prison walls as well, isn’t it? Most Americans pay little attention to the day’s issues unless and until there is either a direct or perceived impact. The latest round of decisions from the highest court reminds me of the dangers of not paying attention to decisions of the Supreme Court.

This most recent Supreme Court term has been surprising in many ways. I was genuinely surprised when the court struck down the Trump administration’s attempt to put a citizenship question on the census, and genuinely saddened when the Court refused to see the obvious implications to the constitutional doctrine of the separation of church and state by allowing a giant cross to remain on public land as well as refusing to address partisan gerrymandering. Reading over those decisions, it seems apparent to me that basing an administration policy on outright, unsupported bias is frowned upon by the Court, but plain as day government support of religious favoritism and political/racial shenanigans which interfere with the sacred right to vote, are issues the highest court of the land does not see as counter to the principles of the Constitution.

In law school, I learned that The Constitution is supposed to protect the people from the government, but increasingly with political appointments, dogmatic inclinations, it is being used as a tool to protect the government from the people. Stagnating the principles of the highest law of the land is akin to killing a document that was meant to be a living, evolving protection for the people….

This raises the question, who are Supreme Court judges accountable to? Certainly no reasonable application of the law can withstand the political leanings which usually result in decisions that show a propensity to arbitrarily mold the law to an issue as opposed to fitting an alleged act to the law. Seems many on this current Supreme Court are accountable to nothing but their own politically inspired and beholden whims and shortsightedness. Take for example the ravings of Justice Clarence Thomas. This term, his true self has sprung up loud and clear, particularly in some of his dissents. In particular, in one case, Thomas felt the obvious racist actions by a prosecutor against a black defendant were “blameless.” Astonishingly, he was not alone in that dissent. Dissenting opinions may not seem all important, but I remember in law school one of my favorite professors routinely encouraged his students to review dissenting opinions as a way of gaining better insight on the majority opinion and also to provide a snapshot of a particular justice or justices and what direction the court could potentially take. History has shown that dissent, particularly on the Supreme Court, can eventually turn into the majority. I’m not sure, given the current propensities of the Court, whether that is a good or bad eventuality.

I do believe judges, and particularly Supreme Court justices, have to be held accountable for their decisions. The confirmation process is nothing more than a litmus test of political support, not inquiry on the fitness of a person to sit on the highest court of the land. A start could be abolishing lifetime appointments and voting in elected officials who are more interested in the sanctity of the law as opposed to their dogmatic and political ambitions which do more to divide the country than to unify it.

Given the obvious ambivalence of the Supreme Court, I hope more attention will be given to their decisions. I fear the implications of not doing so. Like my fellow inmates, when you’ve waited until the last minute to be hopeful for a good outcome, most times it is too late.
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Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, I suppose it’s past praying for to expect Justice Thomas to wake up and smell the coffee. But I hope you will still keep an eye on him – and on the Court as a whole.

The Furies and I will be back.

Cross posted to Care2 HERE.