Last week, President Biden announced a major attack on the independence of the Supreme Court. Vice President Harris immediately endorsed his plan and made clear that restricting the court would be a top priority if she wins the presidential race in November.
The Biden-Harris proposal comes after months of rhetorical threats that erupted against the court's independence after the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
Justice Neil Gorsuch was asked recently about the controversial proposal. He firmly stated, "You're not going to be surprised that I'm not going to get into what is now a political issue during a presidential election year. I don't think that would be helpful." But he warned that the independence of the judiciary was essential to American freedom.
Gorsuch followed his initial response with these additional comments: "It is what the independent judiciary means — what does it mean to you as an American? It means that when you are unpopular, you can get a fair hearing under the law and under the Constitution. If you are in the majority, you don't need judges and juries to hear you and protect your rights. You are popular! It's there for the moments when the spotlight is on you when the governor's coming after you. And don't you want a ferociously independent judge and a jury of your peers? Isn't that your right as an American? And so I just say, be careful."
The justice was right to warn against threats to the independence of the Supreme Court, a co-equal branch of government. Threats by the radical left have included calls for packing the court with more liberal justices and mobs taking to the streets, threatening their families.
The rhetoric against the Supreme Court became so heated from the left generally, and from the Biden-Harris administration specifically, that there was a massive increase of threats against the justices. One individual flew across the country, planning to assassinate at least one conservative justice among the majority who overturned Roe.
Justices and their families have been subjected to protests and demonstrations for months outside of their homes, which are acts prohibited by federal law. Our legislators enacted the law because they saw the "picketing and parading" as an effort to intimidate and threaten the court's independence. The refusal of Biden's Justice Department to enforce the law is scandalous.
The nation just witnessed an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, which thankfully failed. But threats against our justices and their families have grown so much that Congress provided them with additional security.
JDFI urges members of Congress to resist demands that will limit or transform the Supreme Court to be nothing more than a rubber stamp for a radical agenda. In addition, JDFI encourages citizens to consider the judiciary's importance when voting this November.