Extra Post- Politics in the Supreme Court

Extra Post

Politics in the Supreme Court

Two weeks ago, the United States witnessed two decisions be handed down by the Supreme Court. Both rulings are arguably landmark, although one is more so than the other. On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects LGBTQ workers from workplace discrimination. On Thursday, the court rejected Trump's attempt to end the DACA program, one which was shrouded with controversy since its inception by Former President Obama. Currently, the court is split politically with four justices leaning left, 4 leaning right, and Chief Justice John Roberts remaining fairly neutral, but leaning slightly right.

In the case surrounding LGBTQ Employee Rights, the court ruled 6 to 3 in favor of protecting LGBTQ Employees from workplace discrimination. Both Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Neil Gorsuch sided with liberals and Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion. In his opinion, Justice Gorsuch wrote that he is a textualist and views the words as guides which must be viewed in the context of modern society. As a result, he felt that the words "discrimination based on sex" protected LGBTQ rights. Simply, Justice Gorsuch felt that if a woman couldn't be fired for being in a relationship with a man, but a man could be fired for being in a relationship with a man, discrimination based on gender was occurring. The dissenting opinion, written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, stated that the six justices took the words out of context and "too far".

In the case about DACA, a much different issue arose, one which highlights the political swing of the court. The court did not rule that DACA was illegal, but rather that the way in which President Trump tried to dismantle it did not follow the Policies and Procedures for the Executive Branch. While this decision, in theory, should have been unanimous, the conservative justices ruled in favor of Trump, while the liberal justices, joined by Chief Justice Roberts, ruled against Trump. If the case was based on the legality of actions, not the legality of the program, it was a yes or no issue. Did President Trump follow the correct policies and procedures? So why then did conservative justices rule for him?

At the end of the day, these two decisions show the political bias of the court on both sides. Conservatives nationwide were "shocked" by the courts decision surrounding LGBTQ rights, more specifically Justice Gorsuch's opinion. President Trump even admitted that many were "surprised". This surprise shouldn't exist solely because a justice chose a different side than he "should have". By assuming this, people are admitting the court has bias.

In the DACA case, both judges appointed by President Trump sided with him, as well as justices appointed by Republicans. This shows the fact that justices sway towards those who appointed them. Wether this is their fault or strategy by the individuals who appointed them to sway the court is up for debate, however it is still morally wrong as this is not what the court was intended to do.

Supreme Court of the United States