The American Bar Association, the generally conservative American College of Trial Lawyers and others have released statements criticizing Senator Schumer's statement at a rally on the steps of the Supreme Court. The Senator's claim Gorsuch and Kavanaugh "will pay the price" and that they "won't know what hit them". Chief Justice Roberts too denounced Schumer, though Trumpian threats against Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor did not prompt his ire.
I think we should be clear about a few things.
There are no defenders among us of Schumer's rally remarks which have been broadly renounced.
The dispute is what weight to give them. Some see a literal threat of violence, comparable to the threat Trump poses. Or Governor Chris Christie, perhaps.
I doubt that Schumer's unacceptable conduct presages much of anything.
What Schumer does represent is the deep fear that rights many deem fundamental, such as abortion rights, voting rights, healthcare, press freedom and respect for the other are in the gravest of danger. And that is due to a bullying and ignorant president whose allies defied norms to pack first the Supreme Court and now the lower courts with ideological allies vetted by a series of litmus tests.
In this context platitudes about judicial independence, balls and strikes are of little or no help in addressing the fundamental conflicts of values that fuel the fires.
~ George Conk
OTHERWISE: Supreme Court: Chuck Schumer’s attack on Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, explained - Vox
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