Wednesday 27 June 2018

5:4

In a decision split along liberal and conservative lines, the US high court signalled to its people and executive the legal leeway to uphold America’s sovereign right to be a twerp and bully in general by vindicating Trump’s racially-charged travel ban.
For those of you playing along, this decision—in a series of markedly regressive though possibly not as broad in their applications ones—reaffirms that the coup had its origins long before this crime syndicate lodged itself in the White House. Normally when a seat at the Supreme Court becomes vacant, it is the prerogative of the sitting president (with the ascent of the legislature) to fill that position with a nominee of his or her choice—as was the case when conservative Justice Antonin Scalia passed away in February 2016 and President Obama nominated District of Columbia chief circuit judge Merrick Garland. Breaking with a long-standing custom, however, the Republican controlled Senate refused to hold hearings, arguing that the appointment should rest in the hands of the next president—ostensibly hoping that another conservative-minded justice would be awarded a place at the court and would be able to forward their socio-political agenda. With lifetime appointments, the selection of magistrates and the composition of high courts are shielded from the fickleness of the party in power and cannot be easily unseated through democratic means.