#GiftArticle

How #Roberts Shaped #Trump’s #SCOTUS Winning Streak

Behind the scenes, the #ChiefJustice molded 3 momentous #Jan6 & #election cases that helped determine the fmr president’s fate.

Last Feb, Chief Justice #JohnRoberts sent his 8 #SupremeCourt colleagues a confidential memo that radiated frustration & certainty.

#law #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ElectionInterference #illiberalism #AntiGovernment #Unlawful #extremism #MAGA #Republicans #conservative
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/15/us/justice-roberts-trump-supreme-court.html?unlocked_article_code=1.K04.wARn.oV9X_Fd23Prd&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb&ngrp=mnp

#Trump, seeking to retake the #WhiteHouse, had made a bold, last-ditch appeal to the justices. He wanted them to block his fast-approaching #criminal trial on charges of attempting to overturn the 2020 election, arguing that he was protected by presidential #immunity. Whatever move #SCOTUS made could have lasting consequences for the next #election, the scope of presidential #power & the court’s own battered reputation.

#law #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ElectionInterference #illiberalism

The #ChiefJustice’s Feb 22 memo, jump-starting the justices’ formal discussion on whether to hear the case, offered a scathing critique of a lower-court decision & a startling preview of how the high court would later rule, acc/to several people from the court who saw the document.

#law #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ElectionInterference #illiberalism #AntiGovernment #Unlawful #extremism #MAGA #Republicans #conservative

The #ChiefJustice tore into the appellate court opinion greenlighting #Trump’s trial, calling it inadequate & poorly reasoned. On one key point, he complained, the lower court judges “failed to grapple w/the most difficult questions altogether.” He wrote not only that #SCOTUS should take the case — which would stall the #trial — but also HOW the justices should DECIDED it.

#law #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ElectionInterference #illiberalism #criminal #extremism #MAGA #Republicans

“I think it likely that we will view the separation of powers analysis differently” from the appeals court, #ChiefJustice #JohnRoberts wrote. In other words: grant #Trump greater protection from prosecution.

In a momentous trio of #Jan6 related cases last term, the court found itself more entangled in presidential #politics than at any time since the 2000 election, even as it was contending w/its own controversies related to that day.

#law #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #illiberalism

#ChiefJustice #JohnRoberts responded by deploying his #authority to STEER RULINGS that BENEFITED #Trump, acc/to a NYT examination that uncovered extensive new info about the court’s decision making.

#JFC that’s it. #DisbandSCOTUS

#law #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ElectionInterference #illiberalism #AntiGovernment #Unlawful #extremism #MAGA #Republicans #conservative

This account draws on details from justices’ private memos, documentation of the proceedings & interviews w/ #SCOTUS insiders, both conservative & liberal,who spoke on the condition of anonymity because deliberations are supposed to be kept secret. [I thank them for providing evidence of such blatant #bias & #corruption]
The #ChiefJustice wrote the majority opinions in all 3 cases, incl an unsigned one in March concluding that #Trump could not be barred from #election ballots in #Colorado.

#law

Another case involved a highly unusual switch. In April, the #ChiefJustice assigned Justice #Alito to write a majority opinion saying that prosecutors had gone too far in bringing obstruction charges against some Capitol *rioters* [#insurgents]. But in late May, #JohnRoberts took it over.…

During the Feb discussions of the #immunity case, the most consequential of the 3, some of the *#conservative* justices wanted to schedule it for the next term.

#law #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt

That would have deferred oral arguments until Oct & almost certainly pushed a decision until after the #election. But #ChiefJustice #JohnRoberts provided crucial support for hearing the historic case earlier, siding w/the liberals.

Then he froze them out. After he circulated his draft opinion in June, Justice Sonia #Sotomayor, the senior liberal, signaled a willingness to agree on some points in hopes of moderating the opinion….

#law #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #illiberalism

Though the #ChiefJustice often favors consensus, he did not take the opening. As the court split 6 to 3, #conservatives vs #liberals, Justice #Sotomayor started work on a 5-alarm dissent warning of #danger to #democracy.

In his writings on the #immunity case, #JohnRoberts seemed confident that his arguments would soar above #politics, persuade the public, & stand the test of time. [#hubris]

#law #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ElectionInterference #illiberalism #criminal #bias #corrupt

#ChiefJustice #JohnRoberts’ opinion cited “enduring principles,” quoted Alexander Hamilton’s endorsement of a vigorous presidency, & asserted it would be a mistake to dwell too much on #Trump’s actions. “In a case like this one, focusing on ‘transient results’ may have profound consequences for the separation of powers & for the future of our Republic,” he wrote. “Our perspective must be more farsighted.”

#law #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ElectionInterference #illiberalism #criminal

…Both #conservatives & #liberals saw it as an epic win for #Trump. He & his supporters exulted over the decision, which greatly expanded presidential #immunity & pushed off any trial until well after the #election —if ever. To #Democrats, the #Republican-appointed #SCOTUS justices were brushing away the #violent Capitol attack & abandoning the core principle that no one is above the #law. The #ChiefJustice, who had long said he wanted to keep the court out of #politics, had plunged it deeply in.