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When the High Court acts like the Mafia [1]
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Date: 2023-05-08
"Some day, and that day may never come,” he [the Godfather] tells Bonasera, “I’ll call upon you to do a service for me.” This is understood to be more ominous and weighty than any monetary debt could be. But as the powerful know, the right to call in a future favor is priceless.
Excellent article in The Atlantic. When the corruption allegations are dismissed as being "just friendship," this is a reminder that that is also Mob language. It is the paradigm of the patron / broker / client model. And it is how crimes get done.
The Roberts court has moved beyond "balls and strikes" umpiring. The pitch itself is hardly even needed; Thomas and Gorsuch can tell just by looking at you whether you will strike out. Opinions are written that look ahead to other precedents ripe for challenge. Who even needs to file a suit anymore? The case is already decided before the briefs come in.
And that is the perfect environment for this kind of "friendship corruption." Yes, Mr. Roberts, it is a thing. What galls me is that I have witnessed better. A church member of mine, a state district judge, literally asked me to come witness him turning down a "gift" from a "friend." He wanted discretion, but he wanted a third party to be able to testify to his integrity. How much better this way of handling things! He and I didn't always agree, but I trusted that his opinions were genuine.
What I want to do -- what I probably don't have the cojones to do -- is to have a movement of people flooding the Court with mailed in dollar bills. On each one, we write, "Bribe for Thomas." Or, "Here's a favor, now you owe me." (Black Sharpee just adds to the humor.) No powdery substance, of course. It won't shame them of course. After all, we aren't their "friends." But who knows? It might shake up a clerk.
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