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(24)
In June 1862, for instance, Congress passed and Lincoln signed a bill banning slavery from the federal territories—a direct violation of the ruling in Dred Scott. The Court meekly acquiesced, recognizing that its political power was long since broken. https://cwemancipation.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/slavery-ends-in-the-territories/
In June 1862, for instance, Congress passed and Lincoln signed a bill banning slavery from the federal territories—a direct violation of the ruling in Dred Scott. The Court meekly acquiesced, recognizing that its political power was long since broken. https://cwemancipation.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/slavery-ends-in-the-territories/
(25)
As the legal historian Charles Warren later lamented, Republicans' popular assault on the Court crippled the institution for more than a decade. https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/charles-warren
(For me, this was Good: it helped make emancipation and Reconstruction possible.)
As the legal historian Charles Warren later lamented, Republicans' popular assault on the Court crippled the institution for more than a decade. https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/charles-warren
(For me, this was Good: it helped make emancipation and Reconstruction possible.)
(26)
Drawing direct “lessons from history” is a fool’s errand, but at least this should remind us that judicial power — however grandly it may be imagined by friends and foes alike — is critically dependent on political currents.
Drawing direct “lessons from history” is a fool’s errand, but at least this should remind us that judicial power — however grandly it may be imagined by friends and foes alike — is critically dependent on political currents.
(27)
In some ways, the Left today shares the position of antislavery forces in the 1850s: a rich, well-organized sect, whose commitment to property far exceeds its belief in democracy, has made the Supreme Court a citadel of reaction: https://www.thenation.com/article/the-bosses-constitution/ cc @JedediahSPurdy
In some ways, the Left today shares the position of antislavery forces in the 1850s: a rich, well-organized sect, whose commitment to property far exceeds its belief in democracy, has made the Supreme Court a citadel of reaction: https://www.thenation.com/article/the-bosses-constitution/ cc @JedediahSPurdy
(28)
Yet as Keith Whittington argues, the resort to judicial supremacy is not a sign of strength, but an admission of weakness: a beleaguered regime calls upon the authority of the Court only to achieve what it cannot accomplish through electoral politics.
Yet as Keith Whittington argues, the resort to judicial supremacy is not a sign of strength, but an admission of weakness: a beleaguered regime calls upon the authority of the Court only to achieve what it cannot accomplish through electoral politics.
(29)
The Bosses’ Constitution has no more chance of winning public support today than the slaveholders’ agenda of the 1850s. It is, probably, the *least popular* wing of a larger conservative politics that has come to depend on minority rule: http://www.slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/10/minority-rule-not-in-the-constitution cc @jbouie
The Bosses’ Constitution has no more chance of winning public support today than the slaveholders’ agenda of the 1850s. It is, probably, the *least popular* wing of a larger conservative politics that has come to depend on minority rule: http://www.slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/10/minority-rule-not-in-the-constitution cc @jbouie
(30)
To make this undemocratic project vulnerable, it must be made visible.
It may not be enough to question the decisions, the justices, or even the structure of the current Court — we may need to challenge, as Lincoln did, the foundation of its power to determine the law.
To make this undemocratic project vulnerable, it must be made visible.
It may not be enough to question the decisions, the justices, or even the structure of the current Court — we may need to challenge, as Lincoln did, the foundation of its power to determine the law.
(tfw your epic twitter thread is scooped by the Appeal to Reason in 1909)
