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The U.S. Supreme Court is extremely flawed. Most people on the political spectrum can admit that but in very different ways. For example, the liberal justices are deemed patron saints who can do no wrong, but the reality is even Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who we champion above all, had her not-so-amazing history with racial justice and tribal sovereignty. The United States is run by an oligarchy.

Not to villainize people like Justice Sonia Sotomayor — I’m sure she’s lovely — but she still supports the institution of the U.S. Supreme Court by serving on the bench. Like with many institutions in the United States, such as the police, supporting the Supreme Court is supporting an evil, racist, illegitimate and totalitarian institution.

Generation Z goes wild for the court whenever they make a decision that I would consider basic human rights. In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — the case that struck down Roe v. Wade — conservative Chief Justice John Roberts gave one concession to the three liberal justices who voted in favor of constitutional protection of abortion in 2022.

Why did we then proceed to praise this man who voted against Obergefell v. Hodges, arguing the states have a right to ban same-sex marriage? The god complex we must give these people when they make a humane decision on the docket.

These aren’t disagreements over tax codes anymore. This Supreme Court has consistently sided with states’ rights, which, as we know, goes very poorly for anybody who is not a white, heterosexual, cisgender, rich man.

“The court has become politicized, essentially running like the Senate for presidents to use to effect change.”

There is too much power concentrated in the judicial branch stemming from the John Marshall Court. In theory, judicial review is a great check on the other governmental branches’ power. However, in this America and with these judges, judicial review is the exact power that makes them able to operate as an oligarchy.

This is covered up by the phony argument that states should get to make decisions for their local populations, but why should this be the case with basic humane principles like LGBTQIA+ rights, abortion rights and interracial marriage rights?

We are unable to pass things in legislation to protect anybody. Thats why it’s open for the courts to rule more and more on these issues — America is too polarized to rule on them in other branches. The constitution doesn’t protect anyone except for straight, white, cisgender males, and because the process to add amendments or change them is definitely not happening in a polarized America, it’s only the courts.

Because presidents can’t rely on winning supermajorities in the Senate anymore, the focus is winning just enough seats to be able to tie with a vice presidential vote. Without the ability to reach across the aisle to push abortion rights legislation, because it has become such a polarizing issue, the Supreme Court was unilaterally able to decide the outcome.

Like it or not, this means the court has become politicized, essentially running like the Senate for presidents to use to effect change.

The court is interpreting the Constitution like it’s the Bible, which, in a way, it sort of is. Similar to the bible, the Constitution was written by a bunch of men who are not alive anymore with outdated rules about how people should live the “correct” way. Except the correct way is whichever way the justice leans politically or which president appointed them.

Legislators are able to introduce new laws that reflect changing society, like regulations around artificial intelligence. But the unelected Supreme Court can only give their individual interpretations of laws according to an outdated document written over 236 years ago.

So now with a paralyzed Congress and polarized America, we are left with nine unelected people who serve for life and have unchecked power. Look no further than Texas’ near-total abortion ban or the case originating in Colorado allowing businesses to not serve LGBTQIA+ people. If you don’t believe the Supreme Court has been governing the United States as a dictatorship, you haven’t been paying attention.

Reach Caden Proulx at letters@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.