SCOTUS is not forever

Today is another reminder to fight

You learn a lot of things in law school. You learn that you should’ve gone to business school. You learn that the law is basically however the judge feels that day. And you learn that the Supreme Court of the United States makes decisions that last for a time, but not forever.

My worst day during the first Trump administration was the day that Kennedy stepped down. I felt it like a punch in the gut. I knew without a doubt what that meant for the court. When RBG died it was even worse. We knew when they confirmed the sexual predator and the Quiverfull Mom that we were in for some really rough years, and for a lawyer who had a Supreme Court calendar on her wall in law school, and who used to go running past the Court every day, it broke my heart to see how far they had fallen. But then I remembered something that I am telling you now: SCOTUS is not forever.

Not as long ago as we would like to think, the Supreme Court told Dred Scott that he had to return to slavery with his owner. Not too long after that, the same court desegregated American schools. The Court changes its mind based on the will of the people. It pretends that it is objective and above politics, but as times change, so does the Court.

I have always thought that it was remarkable that Scott was even able to take a case all the way to the Supreme Court in the first place. That is an incredibly difficult thing to do. It requires going through several lower courts. It requires having attorneys and time and money. He was a slave and he made it to the Supreme Court, and to me that has always been a sign of how extraordinary the American judicial system can be. The Court’s decision was a reminder of how cruel it can be. We have seen the Court make horrific decisions, but we have also seen the Court do amazing things.

Today is not one of those days. Today the Court failed. It failed America. It failed justice. It failed to protect the most vulnerable among us and to uphold the standard of the law. But today is not our last day.

I reference this book all of the time, but I will reference it again because it is so important- the book The Unsteady March by Philip Klinkner is a reminder that no battles are won forever but no battles are lost forever unless we stop fighting.

The march toward justice is not a straight line. I believe MLK has a quote in which he says it better but that’s the best I can do right now. Today is a day to mourn, for sure, but tomorrow is a day to organize. Midterms are in a year and a half and we can take Congress back. In fewer than three years we can kick out that petty wanna be dictator forever and start the work of rebuilding our country. So be sad today. Have a drink, have a cry. But tomorrow put on your big girl pants and let’s get to work.

Nothing is forever.

Kat