Letter: Not just ‘one bad apple’ on Supreme Court

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After the leak of information regarding a possible Supreme Court decision on a case before the court, Chief Justice John Roberts is reported to have expressed the hope on May 5, that “one bad apple” will not change the people’s perception of the Supreme Court.

It is not that “one bad apple” revealing a preliminary draft of possible decision of the court that has damaged the Court. There are several actions of individual members that have damaged the Court.

Neil Gorsuch accepted a seat on the court that was widely believed by American voters to be stolen from the existing administration by the opposition party in the Senate. How often does it happen that lawyers openly accept stolen goods?

In violation of his own change in the rules regarding seating anyone on the court close to an election, Mitch McConnell rushed in Amy Coney Barrett shortly before the November 2020 election. Another stolen seat. Now you’ve got two seats on the court filled by folks willing to accept stolen goods.

More recently it turns out, according to newspaper accounts, that our nation’s highest court doesn’t have any written and enforceable polices regarding the necessity of Supreme Court members recusing themselves in cases where they may have a conflict of interest. They are “on their honor.” Surely one can see where the acceptance of stolen seats is conducive to doubts about someone’s honor.

The allure of becoming a Supreme Court Justice must be seriously enticing to some lawyers. However, accepting a seat on the court that will be perceived by many to have been achieved through cheating is so ignoble as to cast dirt on the reputation of the court by itself.

However, perhaps the most powerful perception changer affecting the court is that the last three appointees – Gorsuch, Cavanaugh, and Barrett – when interviewed by the senate said, under oath, that they considered Roe v. Wade to be “settled law.” They then signed on to reversing it!

They appear to not take that “under oath” thing very seriously. Not a good look fore a Supreme Court Justice.

And then there is the concern that the wife of one of the Justices may have contributed to the attempted interruption of the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election and what that Justice will do if issues around that mess come before the court.

It is clear that there is more going on here to damage the reputation of the court than the release of one draft document.

Diana Lochridge, Burkburnett

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This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Letter: Not just ‘one bad apple’ on Supreme Court