Justice Alito suggested that the Supreme Court's critics have crossed an important line. But if anyone's gone too far in an irresponsible direction, it's Alito. -MaddowBlog
— critics of the court’s direction haven’t just questioned the majority’s judgment, they’ve also raised concerns about the toll on the branch’s legitimacy.
The article did not quote the far-right jurist further — I suspect he didn’t elaborate — though the ambiguity leaves some unanswered questions. If Kagan and others have crossed “an important line,” what exactly does Alito see as the appropriate consequence? Is he of the opinion that people are free to disagree with the high court, but not question its legitimacy?
Some of the blame should be directed at Senate Republicans, many of whom launched a deliberate, years-long campaign to politicize the federal judiciary. The developments are still fresh in our minds: In early 2016, GOP senators refused to consider Merrick Garland’s nomination. In late 2016, several Senate Republicans said, indefinitely, to confirm a Democratic president’s Supreme Court nominees, regardless of election results, and regardless of prospective nominees’ merits.
The message couldn’t have been clearer: GOP senators don’t see the Supreme Court as a politically independent institution worthy of broad respect, so the public shouldn’t either., the justices’ own rulings have been every bit as important.
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