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Damage Control: Dealing with a Rogue Supreme Court



Recently, the Supreme Court of the United States, or SCOTUS, ended affirmative action, degraded basic protections for LGBT Americans, and shot down President Biden’s plan for student debt relief.

Now it is poised to do as much damage as it did when it made the Dobbs decision or when it decided that the right of domestic abusers to own guns supersedes the safety of the women they threaten.

Honestly, the only reason we still have a functioning democracy is because Democrats did so well at the state level in vital swing states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, and, I am proud to say, Minnesota.

Otherwise, I am confident that SCOTUS would have allowed the fringe doctrine of independent state legislature theory (ISL) to stand this session.

This novel legal concept is the idea that state legislatures have complete control over how elections are run.

In reality, this was a plan by the Republicans to rig the 2024 elections, and it went wrong thanks to severe underperformance in specific parts of the country.

I suspect the relatively pragmatic conservative justices saw ahead a little of what ISL would mean in practice for Republican chances.

Thanks to the outcome of the 2016 election that saw Donald Trump win, the name of the game is damage control.

Secretary Clinton warned everyone what was at stake, including the Supreme Court.

Many people who I thought were allies in 2016 (oh, my naivete) said that they could not be scared by the Supreme Court or they were acting with their conscience.

I don’t forget or forgive that type of betrayal.

Add on top of that how I remember the 2020 election and my experience doing campaign work in 2021 (for All of Minneapolis) and 2022 (for Saraswati Singh for Hennepin County Attorney), and I have plenty of reason not to listen to the people who helped get us into this mess in the first place.

So anyone suggesting that President Biden magic his way out of this can be safely ignored—not just for being blatantly wrong, but also having betrayed us all countless times before.

With that out of the way, here are some actual solutions . . . or at least ways to limit the damage as much as possible.

Focus on Helping Democrats Hold the Senate

Right now, the best thing that can be done regarding the Supreme Court is to help Democrats hold it.

Considering what type of ground Democrats need to hold, that is going to be a tall order.

Helping Nevada Senator Jacky Rosen, along with cleaning up the mess Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema made is going to be a cakewalk compared with helping Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, Montana Senator Jon Tester, and West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin hold their seats.

In fact, I am not sure Senator Manchin is capable of holding his seat given just how red West Virginia is.

The state voted for Trump by 40 points. To put that into perspective, California voted for President Biden by only 30 points.

I don’t like Senator Manchin much, but I am going to miss him.

Based on how vulnerable Senator Manchin is and how vital the Senate is, I am going to advise people to spread the word on Representative Colin Allred of the Texas 32nd Congressional District.

Now, I would normally advocate against this type of move, but three factors make this a race worth investing in. Texas Senator Ted Cruz is a relative underperformer for a Texas Republican, Representative Allred is a fairly strong candidate who has won tough races before, and Texas is (slowly) trending blue.

Also, putting this seat on the map can drive Republican resources away from hard-pressed states like Arizona and Nevada, kind of like what former Ohio Representative Tim Ryan did by running an effective campaign against an opponent who Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell had to bail out.

Last but not least, I don’t think Senator Manchin can win in 2024 considering what we are asking him to do and the fact he is running against popular West Virginia Governor Jim Justice in a bloodred red state. This is not a dig at him as a candidate. That he has been able to hold that Senate seat as a Democrat is a miracle several times over. So I am looking for a replacement.

I will be including a list of Senate candidates at the end to donate to and spread the word on.

Regarding Arizona, I decided the best option is to support Representative Ruben Gallego of the Arizona 3rd Congressional District for Senate because I have concluded with how little support Senator Sienna has, there is no chance for her to win at all, especially with her recent stunts.

How to Do Damage Control

Many states have gone out of their way to radically expand abortion access after Dobbs.

Proud to say the Great Lakes states, when possible, have done this. Especially proud to include my home of Minnesota in this effort.

The point regarding reproductive rights is that blue states can work to mitigate the damage, even if only a little.

Contact your state legislators; question what concrete actions they are taking to expand housing, how they intend to protect your LGBT neighbors, and what they have done or are doing to ensure equitable access to higher education in your states.

For example, if your state’s higher education system has legacy admissions, demand they take action on ending this abominable policy.

States have a lot of influence on how colleges and universities operate, so the state legislature is a good place to start.

Considering the fact SCOTUS is likely to enable domestic abusers to get their hands on weapons of war, I would advise everyone here to contact their state legislators and demand they take steps to ensure that people who are convicted of any types of domestic violence are treated like sex offenders. Most people who violently attack their partners will never change, so that needs to be the assumption when dealing with these offenders. These laws and policies need to be written so that they don’t perpetuate racial disparities, however.

The point is that these potential terrorists need to be as controlled as possible so they can’t hurt or threaten anyone else ever again.

Pay Close Attention to State Supreme Courts

Remember the state supreme court race in Wisconsin? How Democrats won that race decisively and now have control of a state supreme court in a vital swing state?

Well, thanks to the outcome of that race, not only is there a good chance that the most gerrymandered maps in the country will be rectified, but another path for Republicans to put Trump back into power has been closed off via coup.

Ask Ali Alexander himself.

However, elections having consequences cuts both ways.

The year 2016 comes to mind.

State supreme court races are vital to understand; they can be a shield or a brutal adversary.

To help everyone here get caught up, state supreme courts are the final word on state constitutional issues. Most relevant for us, they are now the final word on if your state has fair elections or not because SCOTUS has punted this to the states for the most part.

State supreme courts rule on things like criminal and contract law or interpreting a state constitution.

Roughly half of the states elect their supreme court. Click here to find out if your state elects its supreme court. Click here to find out if your state has supreme court races going on in 2024.

Pennsylvania has a state supreme court race this year with a current 5–2 Democratic majority. Judge Daniel McCaffery is fighting to keep it that way. I will be linking his information at the end.

Help out our friends in the Keystone State.

If you have trouble deciding which race to promote, I would suggest Judge McCaffery’s race.

Focus on Cases That People Are Generally Appalled By

Over and over again, voters have demonstrated that they are most appalled by the Dobbs decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, not just in polling but in election results.

Look at Wisconsin’s state supreme court race as a relatively recent example.

Moreover, the US Supreme Court has targeted LGBT Americans in ways that will alienate quite a few swing voters.

But also make sure to spread the word that SCOTUS will allow domestic abusers access to guns.

Keep in mind that most mass shooters and terrorists, no matter their skin color, socioeconomic background, or political ideology, have extensive histories of violence against women. These types of men (and, occasionally, women) should never have access to weapons that are designed for quick and efficient killing.

But make sure to highlight Dobbs and its continued devastation. It worked well before.

This last week was rough.

Stay safe, everyone. 

Candidates to Support

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