On this edition of Your Call, we’ll discuss recent Supreme Court decisions, and how we got here.
Conservative justices repealed affirmative action for college admissions, overturned a Biden Administration law relieving up to $20,000 in student debt, and ruled in favor of a Christian website designer refusing to serve LGBTQ customers.
Steve Vladeck, professor at the University of Texas School of Law, says the court has moved even further to the right since 2018. Legal writers like The Nation's Elie Mystal say expanding the Supreme Court is the only solution, but there is not widespread support among Democrats, so what can be done to counter their influence?
Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas have recently come under scrutiny for accepting luxury gifts from wealthy donors, including conservative legal activist and Federalist Society co-chair Leonard Leo, who received the largest ever $1.6 billion political donation last year to fund his conservative legal network, according to ProPublica.
Guests:
Chris Geidner, legal journalist, author and publisher of Law Dork, and columnist for MSNBC
Analilia Mejia, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy, and former senior advisor and national political director for Senator Bernie Sanders
Web Resources:
MSNBC: Don't believe the data: This is the most conservative Supreme Court we’ve known
The Guardian: The king of dark money effectively controls the US supreme court now
AP: Legitimacy of ‘customer’ in Supreme Court gay rights case raises ethical and legal flags
The Lever: Leonard Leo’s Latest Supreme Court Play
ProPublica: Justice Samuel Alito Took Luxury Fishing Vacation With GOP Billionaire Who Later Had Cases Before the Court
ProPublica: Clarence Thomas and the Billionaire
