The Supreme Court should have been center stage in the 2016 election. It wasn’t, but the ensuing havoc that the court—packed with three young justices appointed by Donald Trump—has wreaked on our democracy demands it take center stage in 2024, especially in light of a CNN report published on Wednesday.

The report, part of a series on the recent inside workings of the court, focuses on the marginalization of Justice Samuel Alito and the “internal opposition” to his hard-line views this session. “[T]he frustration of the 74-year-old justice has grown increasingly palpable in the courtroom,” CNN writes.

But the article drops this bombshell at the end: “While Alito is still relatively young as far as justices go (most in recent years haven’t left the bench until their 80s), he has reflected in private about retirement.”

If Trump wins this year’s presidential election, Alito may very well step down and go home to fly whatever flags he and his wife want, secure in the knowledge that Trump would install someone just as extreme—and a lot younger—in his seat.

That goes for Justice Clarence Thomas as well. At 75, he’s the both the oldest and the most senior member of the court, having been appointed in 1991 by then-President George H.W. Bush. If Trump wins, Thomas may very well decide it’s time to enjoy his $493,700 motorhome, also knowing his seat would go to a like-minded hack. There’s been rampant speculation that he’ll step down if Trump wins.

“The next president is likely to have two new Supreme Court nominees. Two more,” President Joe Biden said at a fundraiser in June. “He’s already appointed two that have been very negative in terms of rights of individuals.”

The machinations of the six conservative justices make electing Vice President Kamala Harris even more important. If she has majorities in the House and Senate, she can carry out the reforms that Biden has called for and keep up his achievements in making the federal judiciary more representative of America’s makeup. It also helps that the judges and justices appointed by Biden aren’t owned by conservative activist Leonard Leo’s dark money network, and are well qualified for their jobs.

But none of those good things can happen without a Democratic sweep in November.

Fix the courts! Help elect Kamala Harris and keep the Senate in Democrats’ hands with your $5 donation.

Source