There is a long history and philosophy around the proper roles and relationships of a legislature and court such as SCOTUS. The current Court could claim to make decisions upon a strict originalist philosophy of jurisprudence. Maybe they think they do, and maybe they really do. But...
Take an open-eyed look at history. Look at the process by which the justices are selected. This shows a different ultimate motivator: conservatives have been working for decades to pick justices whose claimed philosophies align with the conservative agenda.
I don't care the motivation. The SC shouldn't be doing congress' job. Congress got burned because they've been complacent.
RvW has always stood on tenuous footing. We've known this. Congress has literally had decades to do something and they chose instead to keep the status quo. Why? Because the republican threat helps democrat voter turnout. Same reason nothing is being done about the failed drug war.
> RvW has always stood on tenuous footing. We've known this. Congress has literally had decades to do something and they chose instead to keep the status quo. Why? Because the republican threat helps democrat voter turnout.
If by 'tenuous footing', you mean that there is not legislation protecting it, I understand what you are saying. However, per stare decisis (respecting judicial precedent), the general idea of Rowe has been settled and stable for a long time. Public opinion has been relatively stable too.
You said "Congress has literally had decades to do something and they chose instead to keep the status quo.". Congress is a body, yes, but it is also comprised of parties and coalitions that disagree. Saying a "split-brain" body "chose" to keep the status quo isn't a very useful way of thinking about it. A better explanation (one that conveys more information about what is happening) is that the parties strongly disagree, and the party lines have gotten firmer over time.
In February (this year, 2022), the House passed a law codifying abortion with Democratic support. It failed the Senate 46-48 due to Republican opposition.
That's unfortunate. The Supreme Court can only function well if the justices are predominantly motivated by judicial, not political, principles.
If the court plays lip service to judicial principles while ultimately being driven by politics, it is a puppet and cannot serve as a proper check and balance.
Yawn. This is a cliche and talking point you know, to use your own language.
This statement does not address the issues head on. If you have a theory of jurisprudence, say it. You don't need to water it down with over-generalizations.
My comment was questioning the language of the other comment. It said "Congress got burned because they've been complacent.". This is a bizarre way of thinking about it.
In general, I push back against language and metaphors that don't have much value. We get to choose what metaphors we use. So we should choose good ones. Fixating on, i.e. "A versus B" is a competitive metaphor. But the branches of government are not competing against each other. They are working as part of system to (hopefully) maintain some semblance of a functioning representative democracy.
When one branch exercises a check against another branch, I don't think it is useful or interesting to say that it "won". I don't want us to start treating any of the branches as competitors in some kind of game or sport. I don't have much joy when, e.g. the House votes to impeach a President. It might be wise and justified (or not), but it is hardly a cause for celebration. But at times, it is necessary duty.
More specifically... No, Congress didn't "get burned". First of all, the composition of Congress has changed significantly over the last decades. Second, to my knowledge, the Dobbs ruling was not directed in any way at Congress or its legislation.
There is a long history and philosophy around the proper roles and relationships of a legislature and court such as SCOTUS. The current Court could claim to make decisions upon a strict originalist philosophy of jurisprudence. Maybe they think they do, and maybe they really do. But...
Take an open-eyed look at history. Look at the process by which the justices are selected. This shows a different ultimate motivator: conservatives have been working for decades to pick justices whose claimed philosophies align with the conservative agenda.