Opinion | We Should Expect More From Our Supreme Court

I have friends who call it “opinionpalooza.” That time in June, the Supreme Court makes a mad dash toward the end of the term, scrambling to hand down all remaining decisions on its docket and then pretending that the Constitution is safe for the summer. “My approach is, see you in September.” None of us should feel safe with this Supreme Court. On the horizon are rulings on the fate of voting by mail at the state level, the future of thousands of immigrants granted humanitarian protections and the extent of the president’s control of the Federal Reserve and the rest of the federal bureaucracy. “The people, united …” And of course, we get the Supreme Court’s judgment on birthright citizenship. This will no doubt become a landmark of constitutional law. I expect the justices to reject Donald Trump’s gambit to rewrite the 14th Amendment. “That would be a devastating decision, if we lose that case.” No matter what happens in these high-profile cases, don’t be fooled by the attempts by pundits and analysts to “sanewash” what the court is doing. “We’re blaming the wrong branch.” “It is profoundly wrong to call it or say corruption where there in fact is none.” “The rulings, by and large, are so much better than they were 40 years ago.” Even John Roberts has tried to “sanewash” it. “A lot of what we do is of necessity.” They’ll run the numbers and they’ll tell you that the Supreme Court is unanimous on many cases. “As I said, more opinions are unanimous than anything else.” That they’re moderate, or that they don’t overturn a lot of precedent, as prior courts did. We actually saw a version of this in the aftermath of the tariffs ruling. “Donald Trump’s tariffs have been struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.” “A major slap at the president of the United States.” “All of these people who’ve been saying that this is a Supreme Court that’s in the tank for Donald Trump need to take a look at the facts.” We shouldn’t be clapping for any of this. The Supreme Court needs to do more than just reject outlandish power grabs that threaten our democratic institutions. For example, for the first time in the Federal Reserve’s history, a president has tried to fire a sitting governor. “President Trump sent a letter telling Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, ‘You’re fired.’” A sort of trial run for his attempt to oust Jerome Powell. “I’d love to fire his [expletive]. He should be fired.” Lower courts thankfully blocked this farce, and the Supreme Court needs to do the same. But preserving the Fed’s independence over monetary policy shouldn’t be considered an act of judicial courage. That’s just the law. And preserving it is the bare minimum we should expect from the court. Same goes for birthright citizenship. “That’s a good one. Birthright.” It is a guarantee written into the 14th Amendment that no president should take away. Upholding this foundational promise is also the bare minimum. And it would be basic, not groundbreaking, for the Supreme Court to affirm that racial animus has no place in government. That hatred toward people of other countries shouldn’t drive policymaking. “And I say, ‘Why is it we only take people from [expletive] countries?’” Another reason the Supreme Court should be awarded no points: The justices have done immense damage to our multiracial democracy. Louisiana v. Callais and its aftershock in Alabama are a stain on the court and the nation. “The Supreme Court has opened the door to a coordinated attack on Black voters across this country.” The rulings represent the worst blow to Black political representation since the end of Reconstruction. “And what this decision says is that it values partisan politics over discrimination.” And these decisions are already growing legs. The Trump administration is not suggesting that the law that protects employees from workplace discrimination is unconstitutional. And I haven’t even gotten into the shadow docket orders that have caused so much chaos in American life. “This week, the Supreme Court gave federal agents the green light to profile people.” “The hundreds of thousands of people who currently have T.P.S. under the Haiti T.P.S. program would suddenly become eligible for deportation.” “Temporary hold on efforts to block the Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid funding.” The supermajority Chief Justice John Roberts leads is a clear and present danger to our constitutional republic. The real legacy of this Supreme Court term is one of overreach, Black disempowerment and a frenzied redistricting madness. “They’re rigging this election to try to win.” We’ll be lucky if we still have a functioning democracy come November, with even a semblance of checks and balances. But the nation truly needs that. This is why any eventual attempt to fix what Trump and the justices have broken will require deep structural reforms, up to and including fixing the court itself.