With the Supreme Court ready to drop more big decisions this month, we checked in with University of Michigan law professor Leah Litman, who just wrote the NYT bestseller, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes.
While many of the Court’s recent opinions may make you want to hide in your bed under a warm blanket, Leah has taken on the thankless task of examining all of their legal arguments. And the bad news is that several of the extremely powerful justices seem more preoccupied with conservative grievance and vibes than legal precedent. (Remember how quickly 49 years of Roe v. Wade got wiped away?)
The Supreme Court now operates as the green light for Republican power, although occasionally it serves as a backstop for Trump’s excesses. Trump has recently attacked the conservative Federalist Society — which has been the pipeline for his judicial picks — because some of its judges haven’t rubber-stamped his every whim. But Leah believes that most of the President’s judicial nominations will continue to come from the Federalist Society farm team.
So what can we do? Public pressure can make a difference, and Leah urges people to work at the state and local level, too. Electing liberal judges in Wisconsin, for example, has been a huge check on the MAGA agenda in a crucial swing state.
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