At the start of this new semester, we face a sobering reality. As law and political science professors, we’re in new territory: instructing our students about the foundations of constitutional law when neither they nor we have faith that the current Supreme Court will respect precedent and approach the law as the institution once had.
It is now clear that the court, with six conservatives — three appointed by Donald Trump — has a different attitude toward interpreting the Constitution and preserving fundamental rights.
Students see a court about to overrule or gut Roe vs. Wade, a half-century-old precedent, for no reason other than that the conservatives have the votes to do so. They see a majority of the justices eager to advance Republican ideology in blocking vaccine or testing requirements for large businesses. They see the conservative majority mandating government aid to religious schools and greatly expanding gun rights, even when it means departing from decades of prior decisions. They see a court where major rulings are issued without briefing and oral arguments on a “shadow docket,” including 5-4 decisions limiting the power of governors to impose restrictions on religious gatherings to stop the spread of COVID.
Today’s students aren’t alone in losing faith in the Supreme Court. A recent Gallup Poll showed the institution at its lowest level of public confidence in decades: Only 40% of Americans approve of the job it is doing and 53% disapprove. There is every reason to think that this is going to get worse and soon. Although two-thirds of the public believe Roe should not be overturned, the court seems poised to do just that this year, further damaging its credibility with a large segment of the public, though it will please the Republican Party’s base.
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