The conservative majority on the United States Supreme Court understandably has progressives worried. As long as the court maintains its current composition, the court is likely to continue striking down instances of government overreach and flimsy rulings made by prior courts.
The current court has already overruled Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, returning the decision-making on abortion policy to the states.
Through Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the court overruled prior decisions permitting racial discrimination in college admissions.
And the court has repeatedly struck down gun control laws passed by the states and through federal regulation.
Since we are in the season, so to speak, of U.S. Supreme Court rulings dropping, it’s no surprise we have been treated to fundamentally weak reports of supposed wrongdoing by members of the court.
Consider, for example, the recent “gotcha” attempt against Justice Samuel Alito, who was secretly recorded at a cocktail party by a left-wing activist posing as a conservative sympathizer.
“People in this country who believe in God have got to keep fighting for that — to return our country to a place of godliness,” the activist said.
“I agree with you. I agree with you,” replied Alito.
Most reasonable people can understand that very little can be discerned from an isolated exchange at a cocktail party. As anyone with even the faintest of social skills is aware, being agreeable is generally the norm at a social gathering and not necessarily indicative of anything deeper.
But that hasn’t stopped pundits and lawmakers alike from pouncing, including one senator who reportedly told The Hill, “I don’t think there’s really any doubt. I don’t think Alito and [conservative Justice Clarence] Thomas are being shy. They have a view of the world, and they’re trying to establish an official religion, and a specific denomination.”
It’s really all a bit much.
This is especially true given the rest of the context of Alito’s responses to the attempts to bait him into saying something terrible.
The activist attempted to bait Alito, saying, “I think it’s taking us to the brink of, you know, very serious and perhaps, like, non-repairable rifts in the country. And I for one am someone, like — I support your ruling on Dobbs. I support, like — I am very pro-life, but, like, you know, I don’t know how we bridge that gap. You know, like, how do we get people —”
At which point Alito responded, “I wish I knew. I wish I knew. I don’t know. It’s not — I don’t think it’s something we can do.”
After another attempt to get him going, Alito replied, “We have a very defined role. We need to do what we’re supposed to do, but this is a bigger problem. This is way above us. So I wish I knew the answer. I do.”
Much as the hubbub about Justice Clarence Thomas palling around with wealthy conservatives amounted to no evidence that Justice Thomas’ rulings were directly compromised, all of the noise around Alito is likely to pass as well.
These are all transparent attempts by the left to undermine the legitimacy of the United States Supreme Court. That’s all it is.