Thomas’ response:
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Yeah but the hands that matter will be too busy being in the till.
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Annnnnd here we go!
Supreme Court agrees to decide whether Trump can be barred from holding office
Dawg help us.
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Color me shocked to learn that Thomas actually has recused himself from dozens of cases in the past, including a number of cases involving his son.
But never a single case involving his wife.
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Of course, prosecutors could force the issue by indicting Ginny alongside the T**** brigade. I’m surprised she wasn’t rolled up with the rest of the fake elector scam indictees.
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I’m not convinced he would recuse himself even then. He clearly has given up any pretense of caring about the appearance of conflict of interest when it comes to matters involving his wife.
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Oh, it wouldn’t be to force Thomas’ hand. It would be to force the rest of the Court (excluding Alito) to reckon with their ethics problems.
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Plus, it’s right there in Articles I-III of the Constitution! Congress makes laws including budgets for the federal government; the Executive Branch enforces those laws (including several uses of the term “regulation” which means not just enforcement but the policy-setting of enforcement); and the Judiciary interprets those laws and determines if they are consistent with the Constitution. Arguably, SCOTUS and the Judiciary would be less hands-on with the details of regulation than with the interpretation of the law itself.
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Asking seriously:
at what point does the doublespeak we hear from self-proclaimed U.S. Constitutionalists and Originalists trigger enough of a groundswell by us plebs and/or those in federal government who have the power to impeach a justice of the SCOTUS in a meaningful, effective way?
@Kii
@danimagoo
… in case y’all’re able to shed some light on the IRL hurdles here and now. 2024. “Modern Times.”
Is it just a matter of the enablers and powerbrokers unwilling to jump off the gravy train for the good of the e pluribus part of our unum? Just how much trouble are we in? Is each of the SCOTUS justices un-arrestable, de facto if not de jure?
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I’m afraid I don’t have an answer. Impeachment of anyone is difficult. Impeachment of a justice even more so. It doesn’t help that there is no intermediate step with SCOTUS. No complaints to the judicial ethics commission or anything.
Any self respecting lawyer would have resigned by now. Even corrupt judges usually resign before they drag the whole court through the mud and offal. But Thomas has shown himself to be a deeply selfish person. Or it is his goal to completely destroy any credibility and respect SCOTUS has left.
I think it’s going to require the Democratic party to take control over both houses. That might be enough to pressure Thomas to retire. But we’d need a 2/3 majority in the Senate to actually impeach.
It’s possible his wealthy sponsors will kick him to the curb if the heat gets too much and they think they can get someone else they can buy into the seat. Which is unlikely
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I appreciate you taking the time here, so thanks.
I was (sadly) sensing that the list of options was weirdly constrained. Yeah, it’s going to take a dang-near radioactive version of Thomas for his sponsors to stop supporting him. Even then, I think as long as they find him useful (cost-effective? good at protecting their financial interests? etc.) they’ll be ridin’ that pony til its legs give out.
#goals
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The most important thing to remember about impeachment is that it is, by design, a political process. It does not happen in a court of law, but in Congress. Only one Justice has ever been impeached (Samuel Chase) and he was acquitted. Impeachment of Abe Fortis was discussed, but he resigned before it could happen. Anyway, due to the inherent political nature of the process, it’s almost always going to fall along party lines, and right now, neither party has a large enough majority in the Senate to allow an impeachment to be successful. There still are arguable reasons to do it, just don’t expect a conviction and removal from office.
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(& @ki) 100%
A far more likely short-term solution wouldn’t be impeachment or removal but irrelevancy. If Dems retake the House and get a few votes buffer in the Senate, they can pack the court. A SCOTUS with 13-15 justices, 7-10 of which are on the liberal side, could also probably get Thomas to retire, since he’d become irrelevant. Then again, he might cling to his position as a way to avoid prosecution, like T**** wants to.
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