There’s still one recourse for Supreme Court justices who lied at their confirmations | Opinion
The Supreme Court is at a nadir and the country is at a loss as to what needs to be done to cure us of the infected nature of the court.
First it was overturning Roe v. Wade, ending the federal constitutional right to abortion in the United States. Then it was the recent ruling in Snyder v. United States, allowing public officials to in effect take bribes in the way of “gratuities” and “rewards.” And now it is the recent ruling in Trump v. United States, which holds that presidents should enjoy “absolute immunity” for so called “official acts,” which in essence means that a president could even commit premeditated murder, and it would not be a crime — as long as the president declared the murder an “official act.”
The lunacy of this court is mind boggling. People all over the country, and even around the world, are rolling their eyes in disbelief that the Supreme Court of the United States would do such a thing — but it did.
People feel that there is nothing that can be done about Supreme Court justices who obviously lied during their Senate confirmation hearings when they testified under oath that “nobody is above the law” — including the president. Chief Justice John Roberts testified at his confirmation hearing: “No one is above the law under our system and that includes the president. The president is fully bound by the law.” Justice Samuel Alito testified at his confirmation hearing that “no person in this country is above the law, and that includes the president and it includes the Supreme Court.” Justice Neil Gorsuch testified at his Senate confirmation hearing, “No man is above the law.” Justice Brett Kavanaugh testified at his confirmation hearing, “No one is above the law in our constitutional system.”
We don’t know whether the justices have changed their minds since that time. But today, we can judge their testimony as untrue, as each of them voted to grant absolute immunity to Trump, as long as the crime by the president could be considered an “official act.” In essence, all these justices committed perjury at their Senate confirmation hearings, which is a crime under Title 18 of U.S. Code. Under the law, witnesses commit perjury “after having taken an oath” to testify under penalty of perjury if they “knowingly and willfully” make “any material false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation” with respect to “any investigation or review, conducted pursuant to the authority of any committee, subcommittee, commission or office of the Congress.” Under the law, the perjury committed by these justices at their respective Senate confirmation hearings could subject them to fines or imprisonment of up to five years, or both.
It is more than clear that the testimony of each of these justices were false statements made under oath to Congress, and consequently were acts of perjury. The question begging an answer: Why isn’t the United States Department of Justice pursuing federal criminal charges against each of these dishonest justices? They broke the law when they falsely testified to Congress, which makes them criminals — and criminals belong in prison, even criminals who wear black robes.
These justices could be impeached, but we know that isn’t going to happen in light of the intense political climate in the House and Senate these days. The politics are too deep and too far out of control, and the politicians of today don’t have the courage actually to do what needs to be done to rid us of these judicial miscreants.
The only real chance that we have as a country to rid ourselves of them is for the Justice Department to step in, enforce the laws of the land and prosecute each of these so called “justices” who clearly lied at the Senate confirmation hearings. Not to do so — and to allow these people to continue on with no accountability for their conduct, even though there are laws on the books to prosecute them for lying to Congress — would essentially mean that the old axiom, “Nobody is above the law,” would have to be reworded to “Nobody is above the law — except lying members of the United States Supreme Court.”
Brian Vukadinovich is the former executive director of the Posner Center of Justice for Pro Se’s and the author of “Motion for Justice: I Rest My Case” and “Rogues in Black Robes.” He lives in Wheatfield, Indiana.
