The other day a Facebook friend shared a meme that generally accused the Supreme Court of being corrupt.  When I challenged that accusation it resulted in that same friend responding by throwing out a list of more specific accusations including levying a charge that Thomas’ and Alito’s wives are insurrectionists, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh and Barrett lied during their confirmation hearings regarding their stance on abortion, Thomas is guilty of taking bribes, and the Court’s recent opinion on Presidential immunity is unconstitutional.

No doubt there are many in our country who share these sentiments so before I respond to each charge let me start off generally by saying that making blanket across the board statements asserting that the Court is corrupt does it a disservice which is not deserved. The same applies to the language or terms used to characterize the actions of the individuals referenced above. It offers nothing to the conversation other than being incendiary with no basis in fact.  As the saying goes “you are entitled to your opinion but not to your own facts.”

Are Thomas’ and Alito’s wives “insurrectionists”? Thomas’ wife went to the January 6th rally but took no part in the assault on the Capitol. Nor has anybody who has been charged with a crime on that day been alleged to have committed insurrection.   More specifically, while many have been convicted of other crimes related to the riots, none have been charged under 18 U.S.C. 2383. The majority of charges filed against the “rioters were for disorderly conduct and unlawful entry. Other charges include assault on law enforcement officers; trespassing; disrupting Congress; theft or other property crimes; weapons offenses; making threats; and conspiracy, including seditious conspiracy.” Up until the assault those who participated in the rally were exercising their free speech rights.  Were their views valid? No. Did they have a right to express them? Yes.  Should Thomas have stopped his wife from attending the rally? I can only imagine how the public would view any woman’s actions being controlled by a man. Did Thomas’ wife exercise bad judgment in choosing to attend given her husband’s position? Yes. As for Alito’s wife, does displaying the American flag in an upside down manner make her an insurrectionist? If it does, then those who displayed the flag in this manner when the Dobbs decision on abortion was announced by the Court are also insurrectionists.

Did Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett “lie” during their confirmation hearings about their view of the abortion issue? I watched and read the transcript of the hearings at the time they took place. While each of these justices observed that Roe was considered a precedent none characterized it as a super precedent and none stated their explicit view on or made a promise to rule in the affirmative on a case brought before them on this issue. In fact all specifically stated that nothing they said in response to questions on this issue should be viewed as anything but an acknowledgement of how the court has ruled in the past.  They also stated that as a judge they do not prejudge any issue until the facts of a particular case are brought before them. So liars? I think not.

Is Thomas guilty of taking “bribes”? As far as I am aware there has been no proof provided that any of the gifts Thomas or any other justice received has influenced their decision on any given case. Are these justices guilty of bad judgement in accepting gifts? Yes. Were the gifts provided conditioned on their ruling one way or another on a case before the court? Nothing has been proved or alleged in this regard.   It is more about the appearance of a conflict of interest than proof positive that there was a quid pro quo or anything that could be characterized as a “bribe.” I do believe that legislation, The High Court Gift Ban Act, recently introduced by Raskin and Ocasio Cortez should be passed so that their are explicit guard rails to prevent the appearance of a conflict of interest in the future.

Is the recent decision by the Court regarding Presidential immunity unconstitutional as you assert? I am not sure how you came to that conclusion. The Court was fairly explicit that the President is only immune from criminal prosecution with respect to his carrying out the official responsibilities of the office.  No such immunity applies for unofficial acts. And, in fact, the Court did remand to the lower courts the decision as to whether certain of his acts fall into the unofficial and official categories.