The decisions of the 2021-22 Supreme Court term have been a nightmare. But they reveal that justice isn’t their goal.
There have been many parts of this most recent Supreme Court term that have been shocking and troubling. It will always, of course, be known for the overturning of Roe v. Wade. And it should. But one case helps connect them all to a strange new world.
We associate the Law, not only with maintaining order, but for its obsession with accuracy, minutiae, and certainly process. But above everything, we believe the most important part of law is truth.
Every courtroom drama and earnest article in the newspaper drives us to believe that court’s principle goal is finding the truth.
The highest value of the American Bar Association is honesty. The last thing they will countenance is lying.
The Lie
In May, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas made a factually inaccurate statement in a ruling against Barry Jones and David Ramirez, two men on death row.
Everyone knows what is supposed to happen next. He (or one of the members of his staff) corrects it. No big deal.
He chose not to. He’s standing with his inaccurate statement. One that nobody in the lower courts wants to be on the record. Nobody who cares about truth or justice itself should want on the record.
But because it is there, the lower courts could be bound by it. Or use it, in this case, to deny rightful appeals. To deny genuine justice.
This is not a clerical error that cannot be erased. It is an inaccuracy that he is refusing to change. If it started as a mistake (we all know it wasn’t, but follow…), it becomes a falsehood in maintaining it. In other words, by maintaining it now, he is committing an intentional deception.
The Court is now protecting a lie they have placed into the record.
For what?
The current Court continues to expand the power of police, granting near total immunity to Border Patrol and any federal agent. They have made it more difficult to prevent executions. And they nearly always side with the lower courts, even when defendants have evidence that the original ruling was wrong.
The current Supreme Court is frighteningly supportive of maintaining the order of the justice system at the expense of the truth. And most glaringly, in spite of the purpose of getting to the truth. Genuine justice.
This Court doesn’t care for the truth. Or for justice. They are protecting the process because the process protects their power. It is really the only logical conclusion.