The court is expected to weigh in next session on same-sex marriage, which it legalized in 2015

Settled legal precedent in the US is not “gospel” and in some instances may have been “something somebody dreamt up and others went along with”, the US supreme court justice Clarence Thomas has said.

Thomas – part of the conservative supermajority that has taken hold of the supreme court over Donald Trump’s two presidencies – delivered those comments Thursday at the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law in Washington DC, ABC News and other outlets reported. His remarks preceded the nine-month term that the supreme court is scheduled to begin on 6 October.

“I don’t think that … any of these cases that have been decided are the gospel,” Thomas said during the rare public appearance, invoking a term which in a religious context is often used to refer to the word of God. “And I do give perspective to the precedent. But … the precedent should be respectful of our legal tradition, and our country and our laws, and be based on something – not just something somebody dreamt up and others went along with.”

  • mysticpickle@lemmy.ca
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    47 minutes ago

    When one must make the choice between established precedent or a luxury motorhome, obviously precedent isn’t gospel for Clarence Thomas

    "He regularly slips into his speeches his love of driving it through the American heartland — ‘the part we fly over.’

    Imagine Clarence rolling up into Gary, Indiana in this thing to see “The Real America”:

  • skuzz@discuss.tchncs.de
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    1 hour ago

    Reboot Congress in next elections, who have power to impeach the Supreme Court members and replace them. Reboot SC with stricter control. Likewise, strip many of the assumed powers the President has. Then a mass-cleanup of the Federal legal system to erase all the corruption that has been slowly injected over the last 40 years. Fixable, but a lot of focused work that will likely span a decade or more. Also likely something pretty historically unprecedented at this scale.

    Biggest problem is: there needs to be a face, a movement. It doesn’t have to be one person, it won’t be Democrats, and it has to be ostensibly decentralized, especially from Big Tech, as they have tools to manipulate everything now.

    • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
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      2 hours ago

      I remember the joke from after Roe got overturned being that Uncle Tom was gonna legislate his way back to interracial marriage being illegal so he could sneak his way out of his own marriage.

    • BanMe@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      Yeah we got a bunch of analysts telling us a few months ago, no they’ll leave that one alone. lol sure they’re gonna take Roe, but not Obergefell? They just have to have the balls to write the goddamn thing, putrid as it will be, and god knows he’s got 'em.

  • Jesus_666@lemmy.world
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    6 hours ago

    So wouldn’t this mean that past SCOTUS decisions are irrelevant to new cases? So people could legitimately keep bringing near-identical cases to the SCOTUS level and have a legitimate expectation for them to be decided? That sounds obviously unwise even by current SCOTUS standards.

    Mind you, Thomas probably wants to go by a rule of “precedent matters when I say it does”, so consistency is irrelevant.

    • NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml
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      4 hours ago

      I think to a degree it’s never mattered. If the composition of the Supreme Court has changed enough, then they just come up with their own ad-hoc justification to make new rulings over old cases. Before her death, I remember RBG was encouraging the public to bring new cases regarding older rulings.

  • MynameisAllen@lemmy.zip
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    6 hours ago

    Ok, then when trump leaves and a democrat packs the court, then who gives a fuck? It’s not like the number of judges is gospel or anything. Or an age limit, again if we’re not going to follow the rules then who fucking cares

    • NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml
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      4 hours ago

      As much as I want it, I don’t think the Democrats will ever be willing to pack the court. -and that makes me a little depressed.

      • BanMe@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        The last time they had the chance, polling told them Americans wouldn’t be happy so they left it alone.

        It’s neat how they pay attention to what Americans want when it’s the politically easy thing to do.

  • Zier@fedia.io
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    8 hours ago

    “precedent” was destroyed in 2022. The Supreme Court are just tools of the christian cult. They have destroyed American law.