On this edition of Your Call’s Authoritarian Playbook Series, we discuss a new report from Court Accountability, which found that while lower courts function largely as independent legal checks on executive overreach, Trump-appointed judges rule in his favor nearly 70 percent of the time – three times more than other GOP-appointed judges. It also found that the Roberts Supreme Court overwhelmingly greenlights Trump’s policies and reverses lower courts’ decisions.
We'll also find how Trump has reshaped the federal judiciary to implement his authoritarian agenda by packing courts with right-wing judges. What can be done to fight back?
Guests:
Mike Sacks, senior advisor with Court Accountability, lawyer, and former Emmy award-winning political and legal journalist, and Congressional candidate in New York’s 17th district
Lisa Graves, co-founder of Court Accountability, founder of True North Research, co-host of the podcast Legal AF, writer of the Grave Injustice newsletter, former senior advisor in all three branches of the federal government, including as chief counsel for nominations for the Senate Judiciary Committee for Senator Patrick Leahy, and author of Without Precedent: How Chief Justice Roberts and His Accomplices Rewrote the Constitution and Dismantled Our Rights
Resources:
Court Accountability: Trump’s Captured Courts
Court Accountability: Where Law Still Rules
Court Accountability: Key Issues Moving Through the MAGA-hijacked Courts
The New York Times: Trump’s ‘Superstar’ Appellate Judges Have Voted 133 to 12 in His Favor
Brennan Center: Supreme Court Abuse of the Shadow Docket Under Trump
NPR: How the SCOTUS ruling on Louisiana's map could impact Mississippi
CNN: ‘Chaos’ followed ruling on abortion drug access, and providers say more uncertainty lies ahead
The Washington Post: Leonard Leo helped conservative nonprofits raise $250 million from mostly undisclosed donors to promote conservative judges and causes
