A Modern Prometheus: How John Roberts Created the Anti-constitutional Monster Devouring Washington
From ushering in Citizens United to granting presidents broad immunity, no one in the capital is more responsible for Donald Trump’s destructive second term than the Supreme Court’s chief justice.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/how-john-roberts-created-the-anti-constitutional-monster-devouring-washington
https://archive.ph/T2BVo
Forgotten in the arc of John Roberts’s nearly two decades as chief justice of the United States is his role, behind the scenes, to herald the result in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. No, he didn’t write the ruling that ushered in our current era of corporations and billionaires buying the presidency of the United States and other offices. But he can be credited with moving the chess pieces that made that sweeping landmark, authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy, possible.
One version of the story finds Roberts so spooked by an unpublished dissenting opinion by outgoing justice David Souter that the chief moved heaven and earth so that that document would never see the light of day. In it, Souter, a Republican and a big defender of campaign finance laws, called out Roberts for twisting the Supreme Court’s own internal rules to arrive at a far-reaching outcome in an otherwise small-bore dispute—in this case, a decree that the First Amendment places no limits on so-called “independent” corporate and union expenditures in our elections.
That’s not the legal question the Supreme Court had been asked to decide. And so other versions of this palace intrigue find Souter pleading with Roberts, and the rest of the court, to not overrule prior precedents curbing the influence of money in politics—and to rehear the case so that those precedents could get a second look and a fresh round of briefing and argument. Souter got his parting gift: On the final day before the Supreme Court broke for its summer break in June 2009, Roberts announced that the case would be reargued at a later hearing. Immediately thereafter, as his last order of business that day, the chief also announced “with sadness that this is the last session in which our friend and colleague, Justice David Souter, will be on the bench with us.” Problem solved. By the next January, Citizens United would become the law of the land.
This is but one data point for how Roberts, more than any other politician in the United States, has set the stage for Donald Trump’s disruptive second presidency—one far more destructive than the first, and yet distinct in kind from any other in modern history in that the president truly feels unbound. And in advancing an extreme vision of presidential authority, he’s no longer ruling over Washington and the nation as a lone head of state. Instead, the executive power, which Article II of the Constitution vests in one president of the United States, has been freely shared with billionaire and mega-millionaire ruling partners, Elon Musk chief among them.
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I’ve been told, time and time again here on DU, that Merrick Garland is the true villain of this story, and that it is his fault, and his fault alone that Trump is back in power and shredding the constitution.
According to the experts here at DU, John Roberts and his MAGA court are completely blameless for the chaos and destruction the country is now experiencing.
To quote that famous Britney Spears fan:
Leave John Roberts alone!
May his wife’s Swiss bank account receive the scrutiny it deserves, as well.
’They come to me’: Jane Roberts’ legal recruiting work involved officials whose agencies had cases before the Supreme Court
In newly revealed testimony, the wife of Chief Justice John Roberts said she worked for “U.S. attorneys, cabinet officials, former senators” and more.
By HAILEY FUCHS and JOSH GERSTEIN
Politico, 01/31/2023
Jane Roberts, the wife of Chief Justice John Roberts, acknowledges having represented a wide variety of public officials — including senior Justice Department officials and Cabinet members — as they transitioned to jobs in the private sector, according to testimony in an arbitration hearing to resolve a lawsuit filed by an ex-colleague against her former legal recruiting business.
A partial transcript of that testimony was included in a complaint submitted to the House, Senate and Justice Department filed in December on behalf of the former colleague.
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Jane Roberts’ placements included at least one firm with a prominent Supreme Court practice, according to the complaint, which also includes sworn testimony from Roberts herself, in which she notes the powerful officials — whose agencies have had frequent cases before her husband — for whom she has worked.
“A significant portion of my practice on the partner side is with senior government lawyers, ranging from U.S. attorneys, cabinet officials, former senators, chairmen of federal commissions, general counsel of federal commissions, and then senior political appointees within the ranks of various agencies, and I -- they come to me looking to transition to the private sector,” Roberts said, according to a transcript of a 2015 arbitration hearing related to her former colleague’s termination.
In her testimony, Roberts also noted the benefit of working with senior government officials: “Successful people have successful friends.”
Continues…
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/31/jane-roberts-legal-recruiting-work-agencies-cases-supreme-court-00080515
To borrow a metaphor from Smedley Butler: the GOP is a racket.
