I will have the Supreme Court on my mind when I cast my vote in November. The recent Supreme Court rulings are disturbing; some of the justices are clearly making decisions based on politics, not the Constitution.
Recently, the Supreme Court significantly expanded presidential powers, upending 91 years of precedence by allowing the president to fire at will members of dozens of agencies Congress created to be independent from partisan politics.
The Supreme Court also ended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) of 336,000 people legally present in the U.S. because of violence in their own countries. These individuals who have families, careers, pay taxes and contribute to their communities are now certain to be deported.
Another ruling strengthened the ability of individuals and corporations to donate unlimited funds to political candidates and yet another permits partisan gerrymandering by gutting the Voting Rights Act. Finally, there’s the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, greatly affecting the right of women to make their own healthcare choices.
This next election may indeed decide the future of the Supreme Court for decades to come. If the Republicans retain the Senate and some older justices retire, President Trump would then be able to appoint their replacements, cementing the politicized conservative ideology of the Court for decades. It is critically important the Democrats take back the Senate and prevent Trump from further politicizing the Supreme Court.
Jan Chapman
Cape Elizabeth