Human Rights
Not Even Hiding it Anymore: Four Conservative Justices Under Scrutiny for Publicly Attending Major Right-Wing Event
Well, this was pretty brazen — four U.S. Supreme Court Justices attended a black-tie dinner at the first Federal Society convention since the court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade when it ruled on the controversial Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health decision.
Associated Press correspondent Mark Sherman was also there and he found Justices Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh were also in attendance, Raw Story Reports.
It’s not lost on Sherman that this was four-fifths of the majority of the court who were responsible for overturning Roe. Clarence Thomas was the fifth to do so. And three of the justices at this right-wing shindig were nominated by former President Donald Trump.
“Leonard Leo, [Federalist Society] co-chair, helped Trump vet judicial nominees. Group says it’s independent of partisan politics,” Sherman wrote. “But there is close alignment with GOP priorities.”
4 #SCOTUS justices in attendance at black tie @FedSoc dinner, group says. Alito, Barrett, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh on hand. That’s 4/5 of the majority that overturned Roe in June. 1st time for Barrett as Justice
— Mark Sherman (@shermancourt) November 11, 2022
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Looks like about 2,000 people, maybe more, @FedSoc dinner. Conservative legal group helped Trump reshape federal judiciary, including #SCOTUS. Trump’s 3 picks, Barrett, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, are current or former members of the group.
— Mark Sherman (@shermancourt) November 11, 2022
Leonard Leo, @FedSoc cochair, helped Trump vet judicial nominees. Group says it’s independent of partisan politics. But there is close alignment with GOP priorities. Case in point: 11th circuit ruling that limited restoration of felon voting rights in Florida.
— Mark Sherman (@shermancourt) November 11, 2022
11th circuit sided 6-4 with Florida Gov. DeSantis and Republican-led legislature. Majority was 5 Trump appointees and William Pryor. He gave @FedSoc keynote today and 3 of the 5 Trump appointees are on the conference program
— Mark Sherman (@shermancourt) November 11, 2022
Quite understandably, this led former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance to wonder if justices had suddenly forgotten their jobs, per Raw Story.
“As with so many of our institutions, the judiciary can only do its work when the public has confidence in it,” she posted on Twitter. “Some of our judges seem to have forgotten that and that they have life tenure to serve the American people, not the political agenda of the people who put them in place.”
As with so many of our institutions, the judiciary can only do its work when the public has confidence in it. Some of our judges seem to have forgotten that & that they have life tenure to serve the American people, not the political agenda of the people who put them in place. https://t.co/mGLl5RNuOa
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) November 11, 2022
I’m guessing that if the public knew the justices were doing this folks might not be too happy. However, I don’t think these four justices, or Clarence Thomas give a rat’s behind about any of this. They must have known this was a serious conflict of interest unless they are patently stupid. And Brett Kavanaugh beat back sexual assault allegations during his confirmation hearings and something as crucial as abortion rights are of little concern to them since they were obviously all willing to destroy a woman’s right to bodily autonomy.
This is little more than piffle to them. Shameful, but it’s where we’re at.
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