NEWS & VIEWS
Clown court: Extremists don’t care about torching SCOTUS’s legitimacy.
PUBLIC DOMAIN
Informed Dissent
On fire By Jeffrey C. Billman
Last month, five ex
trem ists on th e S uprem e C ourt dism antl ed abortion rig h ts by g iv ing states th e rig h t to dictate w om en’s h eal th care ch oices. A few h ours before I w rote th is, on th e h eel s of a series of m ass sh ooting s, th ose sam e ex trem ists — pl us a ch ief j ustice w h o appears m oderate onl y by com parison — rul ed th at th e rig h t to carry g uns is so sacrosanct th at it m atters not w h eth er states’ restrictions do sil l y th ing s l ike sav e l iv es. In both cases, th e m aj ority w il l l ikel y h av e draw n on erroneous ( J ustice S am uel A l ito on abortion) and sel ectiv e ( J ustice C l arence T h om as on g uns) h istorical interpretations to w rap th eir ideol og ical fanaticism in orig inal ist flim-flam. The defining principle of contem porary j urisprudence, it seem s, is th at w e’re stuck w ith w h atev er th e 1 8 th -century patriarch s w h o founded th is country fail ed to env ision — assault rifles, women not being their h usband’s property , etc. — because “ h istorical tradition” trum ps not j ust dem ocracy but com m on g oddam n sense. “ T o j ustify its reg ul ation, ” T h om as w rote in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, “ th e g ov ernm ent m ay not sim pl y posit th at th e reg ul ation prom otes an im portant interest. R ath er, th e g ov ernm ent m ust
dem onstrate th at th e reg ul ation is consistent w ith th is N ation’s h istorical tradition of firearm regulation.” T o driv e h om e h ow absurd th is “ h istorical tradition” rational e is: T h e N ew Y ork g un l aw th e S uprem e C ourt struck dow n is m ore th an a century ol d. Roe v. Wade died j ust sh ort of its 0th birthday. The Supreme Court first recog niz ed an indiv idual ’s rig h t to ow n a g un for sel f-defense — not carry a g un outside of th e h om e, j ust own it — in … 2008 . A s M ich ael W al dm an, president of th e B rennan C enter for J ustice, pointed out in th e Washington Post: “ In 1 7 9 1 , w h en th e S econd A m endm ent w as ratified, New ork City had 33,000 residents. T oday it h as m ore th an 8 m il l ion. T o m e, as a resident of N ew Y ork C ity , th e notion th at th ousands or h undreds of th ousands of peopl e m ig h t be w al king around arm ed, th inking th em sel v es a ‘ g ood g uy w ith a g un, ’ is, frankl y , terrify ing .” J ustice T h om as, w h o h asn’t resig ned despite h is w ife’s participation in D onal d T rum p’s coup attem pt, sh rug g ed th at aside. “ It is true th at peopl e som etim es cong reg ate in ‘ sensitiv e pl aces, ’ and it is l ikew ise true th at l aw enforcem ent professional s are usual l y presum ptiv el y av ail abl e in th ose l ocations, ” T h om as
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w rote. “ … [ B ut] th ere is no h istorical basis for New ork to effectively declare th e isl and of M anh attan a ‘ sensitiv e pl ace’ sim pl y because it is crow ded and protected g eneral l y by th e N ew Y ork C ity P ol ice D epartm ent.” T h ink about T h om as’ l og ic: N ew Y ork can’t stop peopl e from carry ing g uns in M anh attan just because M anh attan is al ready sw arm ing w ith arm ed cops to protect m asses of soft targ ets. A g ain, safety is secondary to T h om as’ bel ief th at J am es M adison — w h o w rote th e S econd A m endm ent 4 4 y ears before th e C ol t rev ol v er h it th e m arket — didn’t m ean any th ing by th e w ords “ w el l -reg ul ated m il itia” but was fine with randos packing Glocks in M idtow n. M ake no m istake. T h is rul ing w il l l ead to prev entabl e death s. Bruen directly affects about a quarter of the country ’s popul ation — residents of N ew Y ork and six states w ith sim il ar conceal ed-carry l aw s. C oincidental l y , they include the five states with the l ow est per-capita rates of g un v iol ence, as w el l as C al ifornia ( N o. 7 ) and M ary l and ( N o. 1 8 ) . T h at’s not to say N ew Y ork’s l aw didn’t h av e probl em s th at needed to be addressed. A s a g roup of th e state’s publ ic defenders ex pl ained: “ N ew Y ork enacted its firearm licensing require-
m ent in th e earl y 20th century to prev ent im m ig rants and peopl e of col or from possessing g uns. S ince its enactment, the law has justified discriminatory pol icing and crim inal iz ation of B l ack and brow n peopl e l iv ing in urban l ow -incom e com m unities.” In m ore capabl e h ands, th e C ourt coul d h av e struck dow n N ew Y ork’s l aw because of its discrim inatory nature. ut fighting discrimination doesn’t jibe w ith T h om as’ apparent g oal of returning th e U nited S tates to a tim e before flush toilets. The effect of Bruen doesn’t both er m e as m uch as th e reasoning th at del iv ered it. B ecause as m uch as th e m aj ority tried to m inim iz e th e scope of its radical ism — A l ito: “ A l l th at w e decide in th is case is th at th e S econd A m endm ent protects th e rig h t of l aw -abiding peopl e to carry a g un outside th e h om e for sel f-defense” — th e practical effect of Bruen’s “ h istorical tradition” dem ands w il l ev iscerate g un l aw s for decades to com e. B ut th e real takeaw ay from Bruen — and, now , from Dobbs, th e abortion case — is th at th e m aj ority doesn’t care about torch ing w h at l ittl e l eg itim acy it h as l eft. It cares onl y about furth ering its ideol og ical ag enda. A s I’v e m entioned before — as w e sh oul d al w ay s m ention w h en discussing th is iteration of th e R oberts C ourt — R epubl ican presidents h av e w on th e popul ar v ote once since 1 9 8 8 , y et th ey ’v e appointed six of th e C ourt’s nine j ustices. D em ocratic senators represented about 4 0 m il l ion m ore A m ericans th an th e R epubl icans w h o confirmed Trump’s appointees. A C ourt instal l ed by a m inority is enforcing th e w h im s of th e m inority on th e m aj ority — cl aim ing federal ism w h en doing so is conv enient, ig noring it w h en it’s not. In 1937, fresh off a landslide reelection but w ith a conserv ativ e S uprem e C ourt bl ocking key el em ents of th e N ew D eal , P resident F rankl in R oosev el t tol d th e A m erican peopl e, “ W e cannot y iel d our constitutional destiny to th e personal j udg m ent of a few m en w h o, being fearful of th e future, w oul d deny us th e necessary m eans of deal ing w ith th e present.” T h e court-packing pl an h e l aid out in th at radio address fam ousl y fail ed — th oug h not entirel y . S upport col l apsed onl y after court-packing becam e unnecessary ; after F D R ’s th reat, th e C ourt g rew suddenl y am enabl e to h is reform s. T h ere’s a l esson for m odern D em ocrats w atch ing a rev anch ist C ourt unrav el a century of prog ress. S o l ong as th e C ourt’s radical s feel unassail abl e, th e m ore radical th ey ’l l becom e. Get more at billman.substack.com.
