The Dobbs Case paved the way for Trump’s lawlessness today
It’s almost impossible to keep track of the lawlessness that the current Donald Trump Administration is exhibiting. It’s a power-grab and heist on the federal government. And its foundations lay firmly in the anti-abortion and conservative legal movements.
Authoritarianism doesn’t take hold overnight, and in many ways the Supreme Court paved the way for it to solidify here through its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The case as a whole is an example of how the conservative movement soft launched authoritarianism. The Court first allowed Mississippi and conservative legal movements to switch their argument, from upholding Mississippi’s 15-week ban on abortion within the boundaries of Roe V. Wade to overturning Roe entirely. Once Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the Court, it became clear that the Court was a conservative supermajority and could overturn precedent. Someone leaked the draft opinion to the media when it became clear that Chief Justice John Roberts wanted to reach a compromise opinion which would at least preserve some of Roe and what was left of Court’s integrity. The goal was to send a message to Roberts and the other conservatives to come on board. When was the final, formal release of this opinion? It was the same. The same bad logic and writing was used as in the original draft. The Dobbs Playbook overturned Roe and rewrote all the rules. This helped soften the blow to the constitution that we are experiencing in the first weeks of Trump’s second term. Conservatives were very clear in their message to Dobbs, that they didn’t believe the rules applied to them and would govern accordingly. Trump, Musk, and their minions are doing the same now.
Brute force and bad thinking: These are the hallmarks of both the Roberts Court and the Trump/Musk administration.
