If you feel poorly about the Supreme Court of the United States becoming a part of the Republican Party machine of dominance-at-any-cost, why not write them one or more letters and tell them about it ?
Yes, just like to your Congresspersons or to your President, you can write letters to the nine judges who sit on the Supreme Court … including the five who appear to be poised to make the most exalted judicial body in the land into an element in the power calculations of one particular political party.
The address is
(name of Justice or Justices)
Supreme Court of the United States
1 First St., NE
Washington DC 20513
Let’s let these folks hear about how we think they’re doing! I’m 68 years old and I did retail political work for several unpopular causes, standing on street corners with pamphlets or signature sheets, cold-calling lists for donations, because that was the only way to do it before the internet. Our modern tools can produce very dramatic results, so keep up the internet and media work you really believe in, please just listen to my reminders that work “in the real world” is very necessary too.
And remember it is part of Trump’s method to keep us off-balance, confused, overwhelmed. So if your tech media travels are getting you depressed, something like writing a physical paper letter expressing your frustrations to a Supreme Court justice will at least the effect of helping you walk the tightrope of modern life. (Note: postal workers do take offense at the term “snail mail,” their work has literally been wrapped in right-wing red tape passed by Congress back under Bush II at the urging of UPS and FedEx’s lobbyists).
Some thoughts: Of course, it is extremely unlikely that any Justice will read your letter … yet hopefully, a large number of them will have some effect on the clerks and their conversations and their culture and their willingness to become totally shameless political tools.
My mom didn’t always practice it, but she told me many times that “you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar;” for our purposes, a better way of putting it might be “you make more friends when you play nice.” You can do what you want in your letter, but I would absolutely avoid bad language and sarcastic name-calling. Work on putting your put-downs in polite, formal language, asking questions: “Do you really wish for your Supreme Court to be regarded as a bunch of shameless political hacks?”
Some Themes I like: the concerned citizen, questioning and expressing sadness at how their decisions are harming 1) actual Americans like you and people you know, 2) America as a whole, and 3) the American ideals of democracy and the rule of law.
I do like the Rule of Law theme, especially in regards to Trump’s refusal of Congressional oversight and subpoena cases that may be coming their way. Conservatives have lived on this theme in high-minded essays for 150 years, let’s rub it in their faces. “Are you really prepared to allow this President to accept Russian help and refuse Congressional oversight? Are you really willing to destroy the Rule of Law to help a hateful, divisive politician who is the most ignorant, most bigoted, most unqualified man ever to hold the Presidency?”
I do recommend getting into the details of any area of policy that you care deeply about, let’s let them know on just how many issues they are failing us. Otherwise keep it more general and focused on Trump’s refusal of Congressional oversight, ordering his officials to break the law, lying about doing business with Russia while campaigning for President, and Trump’s habit of severely criticizing judges and law enforcement officials., and how hypocritical the Justices will appear, and how greatly their historical reputations will be disgraced, if they ignore how blatantly this President is failing to “take Care that the Laws shall be faithfully executed.”
For Chief Justice Roberts, I would pound hard on the “reputation” and “legacy” and how disgraced he will be if he presides over any kind of Trumpian victory over the Constitution, America’s democratic ideals, and/or the Rule of Law,
If you wish to be cheeky and borderline disrespectful, for Justices Thomas and Kavanaugh, I would give them language like “there appears to be evidence that you perjured yourself in your confirmation hearings, and you have also demonstrated a low level of judicial temperament (for Thomas) in refusing to recuse yourself from controversies your wife is politically active in, and for your refusal to understand that police officers and prison guards do, in fact, at times, commit crimes against prisoners under their control (for Kavanaugh) in your shameful behavior at your confirmation hearings. (for both) You are making those of us on the outside consider whether you are an illegitimate appointment who should be removed or out-voted, as we work to re-gain an America worth living in.”
And you don’t have to let Gorsuch off easy either, tell him “ although it seems that you are an ethical person (within your own narrow, and ideologically-blinkered vision), your appointment was, in legal terms, ‘the fruit of a poisoned tree’ which those of us who suffer from your mis-understandings are increasingly less likely to respect and honor.”
And of course, let’s send lots of letters full of love, encouragement, thanks, support and so on to the four justices who do appear to know what this great country needs, Breyer, Ginsburg, Kagan and Sototmayor. And remember, a big part of this exercise is to help each of us to focus and do positive work in our current degraded political horror-show.
Justices of the Supreme Court:
Samuel A. Alito
Stephen G. Breyer
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Neil M. Gorsuch
Elena Kagan
Brett M. Kavanaugh
Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.
Sonia Sotomayor
Clarence Thomas
I’ve got three jobs and a hobby I’d like to make my next career, it’s a busy life and I won’t be checking back for 24 hours or so.