Blue Press Journal

Tag: Supreme Court Reform

  • Restoration of the Bench: The Need to Reform the Supreme Court Essay

    by Winston Wendell

    The United States Supreme Court is in crisis. The institution which was designed to provide nonpartisan justice in accordance with the Constitution has become a clearly politicized body.Its decisions undermine the rights of the people and ignore the voice of the nation.

    United States Supreme Court building with visitors and American and Washington, D.C. flags

    By ruling in blatant support of one party and president, the Court betrays its role as the ultimate decision-maker in the United States. The Court has repeatedly violated the constitutional rights of the people and has usurped the authority of duly elected officials.

    With the overturn of Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s case, the Court removed a constitutional civil right that protected women for decades. Through the Trump v. United States decision, the justices granted president Trump immunity from prosecution. In addition, the Court has hampered the ability of the federal government to function properly by ruling against environmental protections, consumers, and the environment in the Chevron decision.

    The Court’s reputation has been irreversibly harmed by these decisions and many more taking America backward. It is high time to reform the Court by imposing term limits or expanding it to obtain ideological balance. The unbiased administration of justice will be restored only when the members of the Court realize their role as judges in the service of the people.

  • The Crisis of Legitimacy: Why Supreme Court Reform is a Democratic Necessity

    by Winston Wendell

    When I think about why this country even has a Supreme Court, the idea was always pretty simple: it was supposed to be shielded from political chaos, a steady hand making sure the Constitution actually means something for everyone. But look at the Court now. It’s hard to pretend it’s still neutral or above the fray. Honestly, it feels like the Court has become just another powerful political tool, a super-legislature pushing its own narrow agenda and ignoring what most Americans actually want.

    The root of the problem, in my eyes, starts with how the Senate works. The way our system’s set up gives a handful of small states way too much sway, letting a group of senators who only speak for a small slice of Americans pack the Court with justices who mostly seem chosen for their loyalty to right-wing causes. That’s not what justice is supposed to look like. It’s politics, plain and simple.

    There’s no real mystery about what’s happening anymore, the facts are right there for anyone who cares to look. I find it shocking that some justices still hold their seats while serious accusations swirl around them: secret gifts, obvious conflicts of interest, all swept under the rug. If a judge pulled stunts like that in any other American court, they’d be out or forced to step aside in a heartbeat. But these justices keep making decisions that shape the lives of millions, leaving people to wonder if “equal justice under law” means anything at all.

    The clearest sign to me that things have gone off the rails is how the Court keeps chipping away at voting rights. Just look at Louisiana v. Callais. That decision isn’t some technical fix, t’s the biggest attack on Black political power since Reconstruction. By gutting what’s left of the Voting Rights Act, the Court is opening the door for states to erase Black-majority districts. We’re watching a whole new wave of voter suppression sweep across the South from Alabama to Georgia, that threatens to wipe out decades of progress.

    I’ve also seen the justices twist the law to fit whatever side they’re on. They’ll lean hard on something like the “independent state legislature theory” whenever it advances the conservative cause but then drop it once it becomes a problem. When the law’s just another tool for one side to win, the court stops being a check on power and just become another weapon in the political fight.

    A democracy can’t survive if the last line of defense has already been captured. I still think there’s a way back. When the political moment arrives, we’ve got to put real Supreme Court reform on the table, expanding and setting term limits to fix this imbalance. The law has to reflect the full diversity of America, not just enshrine one group’s vision at everyone else’s expense.

    People deserve a Supreme Court that stands apart from politics, not one leading the charge into the partisan trenches. Right now, we’re at a breaking point; either we rebuild trust in the Court, or we watch the roots of our democracy keep crumbling. This moment calls for real urgency.