THE TRUMP ROBERTS SUPREME COURT

Governments regardless of their ideology seek ultimate legitimacy for their policies and their actions via the judiciary. To use the United States Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts metaphor, the Justices are “ umpires”. To explain even better how the Roberts Court claim to behave, they are akin to the legendary baseball umpire Bill Klem who bluntly maintained, “There are no balls There are no strikes.  It ‘ain’t nothing till I call it”.  Baseball umpires interpret in terms of strict sets of rules which they do not alter in the middle of the game.

 In spite of Roberts assertions to the contrary, the “Roberts Supreme Court” has no dependable rule book by which they adjudicate issues. The Court is on different occasions shown differing philosophies either “Originalist” or “Living” and “Restrained” or “Activist”  The only consistency appears that they act the way Trump maintained that they should and would. In Trump related cases the 6 to 3 Republican appointed Judges have found in favor of the President 93 percent of the time.

The Roberts Supreme Court has interpreted the Constitution contrary to the central underlying motivation of its introduction, namely to ensure that America should not be ruled by a king. There is little doubt that the litigation of United States v Trump,( 2024), was the most influential and important case in the history of the Republic. The Court ignored the limitations of Presidential Power set by the precedents of United States v Nixon, (1974), and Marbury v Madison, (1803). It simply cast aside the reason for The War of Independence and the aim of the Founders. It created an autocratic president. In so doing it was on its way to becoming The Trump Roberts Court.

 

THE FOUNDERS, THE COURTS, NIXON, TRUMP AND JANUARY 6 LITIGATION 

The Key Founders’ conclusion was that there would be three distinct branches of government so that there could be checks and balance to limit the powers of one or other entity. The litigation in the United States v Trump, (2024), The Roberts Supreme Court, as the Judiciary Branch, had to once again decide the bounds of the power of the President who was head of the Executive Branch. Trump was appealing the Federal District Court of Columbia’s judgement “that he was not a King and was answerable for actions”. The indictment accused Trump of actions which amounted to attempting a coup on January 6 2021. The case against Trump was initiated was initiated in August 2023

The Roberts Court slow walked hearing Trump’s appeal which urgently went directly to the Supreme Court on 11 December 2023. The latter ignored the precedent of the United States v Nixon, (1974)  which underscored the urgency of adjudicating an issue of whether the President was subject to the law in a criminal investigation. The Watergate case was speedily directly heard by the Burger Supreme Court with a ruling in 16 days. The Roberts Court refused to accept that there was a screaming urgency in view of the national interest of resolving whether or not the 46th President had attempted a coup after he had been declared the loser of the 2020 Presidential election. That case had been already been briefed and decided in the District Of Columbia Federal Court where an extensive ruling had already been made. In the Nixon case it was not argued first in the District Court it was briefed straight to the Supreme Court. 

Special Counsel Jack Smith for the United States cited the precedent of the unanimous decision of the Burger Court as to their agreement on the on urgency of the matter where a President’s power was involved that “being a matter of extreme public importance”. in fact the Burger Court had acted with “extra ordinary speed”. Also Smith argued that the Court’s determination that Nixon had no “absolute privilege" was equivalent to absolute immunity claimed by Trump”.The 1974 Nixon litigation was not the only precedent there was also Marbury v Madison, (1803), where Chief Justice Marshall made it quite clear in writing the judgement that “Presidents were not beyond legal scrutiny”. The Marshall Court rejected that “…the President or any member of the Executive Branch could act with unchecked authority when the law was implicated”.

The Roberts Court compounded the delay and referred the litigation back tothe Federal Appeals Court where it was once again fully heard and decided with an extensively detailed judgement by February 2024. The Roberts Court still treated the litigation as an ordinary matter with no priority. They finally heard and decided the case only referring it back to the District Court in August 2024, 9 months after the urgent application. Their bizarre judgement, inter alia, stated that a President had “absolute immunity” for any action taken as part of his Presidential duties. Trump’s Counsel had apparently successfully argued that the President would not be criminally liable if he ordered the Navy Seals to assassinate a political opponent unless he had been impeached first. 

August was obviously too close to the November Presidential election for the Court to proceed and the litigation against Trump was dismissed.

Thus the Roberts Court ignored the precedents set by the Burger and Marshall Courts also the overall Constitutional directive that “No man, (sic), was above the law”. Not nearly enough attention has been given to the revolutionary ruling of the Court that has led to a second Trump Presidency which has accelerated America moving from a Democracy to an Autocracy. As will be noted the 6- 3 Republican nominated majority has not at all been fazed by this outcome.    

The Roberts Court has had to rule on numerous law suits related to Trump. Several of them have been decided, mostly temporarily, but certainly controversially, in what has been called “The Shadow Docket”. 

THE SHADOW DOCKET, THE ROBERTS COURT AND TRUMP

The Shadow Docket refers to the orders, decisions that the Court makes outside its regular normal job definition of being briefed by plaintiff’s and defendant’s Counsel, questioning them and then ultimately issuing an opinion after discussion and debate among the justices. In the past it was rarely used other than for the urgent issues relating to stays of execution and procedural announcements. The past ten years have seen a change in number and the usage of the so called, “Shadow Docket”, which have increased dramatically, in fact to quote an article in the New York Times it has become,”….. a central issue of the court’s work”.

There is a wide divergence of opinion as to the legitimacy of using “The Shadow Docket”. In fact legislation has been proposed by the Democrats entitled The Shadow Docket Sunlight Act in order to allow for transparency of the process. The three members nominated by Democratic Presidents have written and voiced dissent at these far reaching, virtually, off the judicial cuff, decisions by the majority on crucial constitutional issues. The Trump Administration has had 21 issues preliminary decided by the court on this basis. In fact central constitutional issues as obvious as birth right citizenship have been put into suspended reality by The Roberts Court opining that the subject has still really to be argued. 

The destruction to American institutions that has been allowed to continue by the Shadow Docket is legion. The includes  temporarily not stopping Trump from closing down the Federal Education Department, the allowing of firing numerous Federal employees for mere policy differences, in the process ignoring a precedent, sacking Democratic members of various statutory boards such as “The Federal Trade Commission” and the cancellation of hundreds of millions of grant money for medical research.  

The major success for the Trump Administration was persuading The Roberts Court via the “Shadow Docket” to allow him to continue with his main policy issue namely the round up of “illegal immigrants”. The latter after District Courts and Appeal Courts ruled them unconstitutional having  been extensively briefed and heard arguments as to their legitimacy. 

Undoubtedly the most shameful ruling is Noem, (Secretary of Homeland Security), v Vasquez Perdomo, (“illegal immigrant”) where a restraining order was lifted on the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, from rounding up suspected “illegals” solely on the basis of apparent race or ethnicity, speaking Spanish or with an accent, presence at locations such as day labor pick up sites or agricultural workplaces. There is no reason for this blatant racism, reminiscent of South African Apartheid Laws, as the situation is wholly unconstitutional. The Fourth Amendment for example protects against “unreasonable searches and seizures, requiring search warrants for probable cause” for anyone.

MAJOR LEGISLATION OF THE TRUMP ROBERTS COURT

In the past 11 years that Trump has dwarfed over America The Roberts Court, has continued to move the country even further than ever in favor of business, to strip away citizens rights, continued on the path they set when they declared the McCain - Feingold Campaign Act unconstitutional maintaining that money was the equivalent of free speech and limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gasses. However the two most consequential decisions other than Trump’s immunity were the negation of a 50 year old precedent, the right for a womarn to have an abortion and the negation of experts to interpret their area of expertise in the particular Government Agencies that they served.

The axing of Roe v Wade ,which enshrined the women’s right to choose, the landmark case under the “Privacy” provision of the Constitution, came out of the blue in litigation that hadn’t even called for it. The three Trump appointees had contended at their confirmation hearings that that was not their intent. The decision has led to draconian legislation by the MAGA states even barring doctors to treat women who may have had a miscarriage. This has led to deaths of women and chaos in doctor decision making processes as a miscarriage clinical picture is indistinguishable from an induced abortion. For whatever reason it is not the hot button issue at this time as litigation wends it way through the courts. Women have taken advantage of obtaining abortifactient tablets through the mail. This negation of “privacy” has resulted in the most “conservative” members of the Court stating the right to use contraception could be next.

The overturning of the Chevron ruling of 1984, yet another precedent biting the dust, has had and will have a long lasting impact. The Roberts Court argued that they rather than the experts, in Health, Education, Environment, Housing, or any other area for that matter, are better placed to interpret the Statutes they work under than the selfsame experts. This has created a flood of litigation as individuals, organizations and corporations challenge any bureaucratic edict they see fit. It makes governing impossible which just so happens to be a Trump objective. Scores of litigation are now clogging the Courts to be decided by Judges who just cannot be experts in every field.

AT THE END OF THE DAY THE TRUMP ROBERTS SUPREME COURT…….

• .....Has made the President the total sum of the Executive while exponentially increasing his power by giving him immunity before the law.
• ......Has increased its own power by ruling through “The Shadow Docket” and axing rights of citizens which in several instances were governed by long standing precedents. 
• The most consequential litigation in the next Supreme Court session will be on whether the last standing provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the land mark Civil Rights legislation, will be gutted. What is in contention is whether a State has the right to gerrymander on the basis of race. 

TRUMP, THE SECOND CIVIL WAR AND EPSTEIN

 

As a background to the most consequential American constitutional crisis since 1861, the Democrats have gained in every special election since 2024. Katelyn Grey has just flipped a rural Iowa State seat reflecting a 21 percent swing since the 2022 election of District 1 in Iowa and the MAGA crowd who pitch up to town halls are being booed, America is facing the Second Civil War. 

Donald Trump has stated, “I have the right to do what ever I want to do. I am the President”. This he is trumpeting with a 37 percent approval rating. This is not politics as usual, Trump will not easily accept a loss of the 2026 Congressional elections. This period in history is only about Trump, who has the levers of power. So the question remains what if anything can thwart his path to autocracy.? He has one vulnerability that has much bipartisan agreement -.the release of the Epstein Files. There have been continuous attempts at diversion from that subject but it won't go away. In addition he still has to find a way to  prevent the Democrats from winning the midterm elections.

NOT POLITICS AS USUAL - ITS THE SECOND CIVIL WAR

Donald J. Trump, the 47th President of the United States of America, is the leader of the 2025 White Supremacy Confederates and who is turning his Presidency into the Second Civil War where the winner will decide who “We the People” are. This is not politics as usual. This is not a policy debate about trickle down economics versus when Governments’ should intervene in the economy or provide a safety net for the less privileged, this is the real deal. The issue is whether only whites are the real Americans and regardless of whether they are in the minority should be in power running an authoritarian government. 

Just as there would not have been the 1861 Civil War sans Lincoln, there can be no “Second Civil War’ without Trump.The latter has the racist credentials to lead this fight with his resume of two ongoing public campaigns, calling for the death sentence of five African American youths who had been wrongly accused for a rape in Central Park and then his infamous thinly disguised racist attack on the first Black American President, Barack Obama, proclaiming that he was not legitimate for a period over nearly 7 years. Unlike Lincoln however who had a cabinet of “equals”, Trump has an administration of ignorant sycophantic nonentities.

This battle for the soul of America is ugly and undisguised. Donald Trump, the modern day Jefferson Davis, is even objecting to the historical narrative of what an abomination slavery was. Trump believes that slavery was not so bad. He has attacked the world renowned Smithsonian Museum complex’s focus, “Everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been”.His objective is to rewrite history while simultaneously conducting his second coup against the Constitution. 

WIN 2026 MIDTERMS BY CREATING MORE REPUBLICAN SEATS

Trump is justifiably fearful of the 2026 Congressional elections where under current circumstances the MAGA Republicans would definitely lose the House and have a reasonable chance of losing the Senate. His answer is to gerrymander the Republican States to obtain additional seats in Congress. So far the biggest move is in Republican Texas adding 5 seats. This effort has been met by California who have moved constitutionally to provide the same number for the Democrats. There are far more Republican States where he could pick up seats then there are Democratic opportunities.

It remains to be seen how the gerrymandering equation will end. Republican Congressmen in some instances are queasy about it as often their districts are turned from a definite “win” projection to a “lean” which could put them at risk especially the way the voters are reacting presently. Others will lose their seats in Democratic States. Trump has an agenda to limit minority opposition voting as well  by attacking methods used by them such as postal voting. 

Trump’s objective appears to be to make this the last election and he has said so in so many words, “This will be the last time you will vote”. At a Believer’s Summit, he declared to the attendants, “Christians, get and vote, just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what? It’ll be fixed. It’ll be fine.You won’t have to vote anymore”. Trump has mused that maybe America would prefer a dictator,  “Maybe we like a dictator”. Finally, he has said the quiet part out loud,”If we happen to be in a war. No more elections. THAT’S GOOD”

THE CHAOTIC NEW ADMINISTRATION

Trump has through his cuckoo land cabinet and Elon Musk’s DOGE, (Department of Government Efficiency), ransacked the bureaucratic state. This is sure to cause chaos down the line. Although, for example, Social Security has not been touched as yet but if offices are closed, phones aren’t answered retirees won’t be able to register easily nor will queries be answered. In addition a whole cadre of expertise has been gutted across the board especially in the armed forces and national security. Trump terminated  the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics because he didn’t like the message of the low new job numbers. This is the path of all autocrats. Hitler as well, in the bunker, denied that the war was going badly on the Eastern Front, screaming at the messengers.

There is chaos everywhere. As Heather Cox Richardson points out the Federal Work Force has been short staffed for years. Scott Kuper Trump’s head of Office of Personnel Management, stated that there would be 300,000 workers less. The decrease includes those with expertise built up over decades, Particularly hard hit is the Center For Disease Control; (CDC), where the vaccine panel has been gutted and replaced by anti vaxers. His destructive behavior towards vaccines is criminal and will result in deaths. Thirty thousand scientists have either been axed or have resigned. The Head of the CDC was fired by Secretary Kennedy 5 months after her appointment, (a common occurrence in this administration). Kennedy who has no medical credentials has the most bizarre theories on health care. For example he stated authoritatively that there should be different vaccine schedules for African Americans. He also has a belief in the survival of the fittest.  

There is a daily score of how much the tariffs are going to be for this country or that. The policy is based on a lie in that Trump claims the countries pay the duty whereas it is in fact a sales tax on the consumer isn’t the only cause for confusion. This crude attempt at upsetting world trade is not based on any rationale. A 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods because they are charging his friend President Bolsonaro with an attempted coup and the same for India because Prime Minister Modi is irritating him. The tariffs on Mexico and Canada, America’s largest trading partners have not been decided on. American agriculture trade, particularly soya beens, is at a halt because China is importing from Brazil. The final humiliation is that Trump didn’t bother to confirm that he was legally entitled to impose tariffs and an Appeal Court has ruled against him. He has to hope the Supreme Court will once again bail him out.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, (ICE), and all the cutely named concentration camps seem to be out of the news for the moment. The crudest one of the lot “Alligator Alcatraz” has been shut by court order. (It was hopelessly mismanaged and cost Florida 218 million dollars not to mention the Federal tax payer money spent without authority). If the poster child for the deportation of criminal illegals is Abrego Garcia the dysfunction is there for all to behold. Ever since March he has been in and out of detention centers including a period in the infamous Salvadorian concentration prison. At every step of Garcia’s saga the Trump administration insistence has been that he is going to be deported. As of August 25 the Courts have categorically instructed Trump’s Department of Justice not to remove him from “the continental United States”. So far Trump has abused the judiciary but not as yet defied them.

Trump has impacted every aspect of American culture and government from the logo of a folksy restaurant, Cracker Barrel to the sacrosanct, the axing of a Governor of the Federal Reserve. By the way he has also claimed to have settled 10 wars in the interim.

CRIME IS NOW PROBLEM NUMBER ONE NOT IMMIGRATION

Signs are that the number one Trump policy namely immigration has so disgusted the population that the issue du jour has changed to save America from crime. Trump apparently needs to send in the troops to effect this. So far there have been two experiments, one in Los Angeles and the other in Washington DC. In the former he was ostensibly just protecting Federal Buildings while in the latter his objective was to fight crime. While that was bogus nevertheless the Federal Government has extensive control over Washington and he could send in the National Guard. Trump has made it quite clear that this is his new thrust - clear up the crime infested capitols of the Blue Democratic States with the National Guard.

It is not coincidence that every potential city target for “crime prevention” has a black Mayor. The fact that crime has decreased throughout the country but particularly in the Blue States does not hinder President Trump anymore than the economy is worsening and prices are increasing as a result of his tariffs. His announced  next target for crime reduction via the National Guard is Chicago and then Baltimore. Governor Pritzker of Illinois all but told him to go to hell. For the first half of 2025 major crime is down in every sector in Illinois by a third. In an outright declaration of war Pritzker noted that 13 of the top 20 states where crimes was the highest in America had Republican Governors. More significantly 8 of the top 10 cities where crime rates were the worst were under Republican stewardship. Moving the National Guard in is going to be a hard sell for “crime” under these circumstances even for the Supreme Court. But Trump has other strings to his bow, more emergencies. 

SO WHAT CAN IMPACT TRUMP? 

Trump’s approval numbers generally and on every issue are in the tank. However in spite of the fact that he is delusional and he is running a sh-t show, he still exudes confidence and is set on his path to allow a MAGA authoritarian state to replace democracy.

Without Trump, MAGA is all but dead. Already Trump is losing the internet and only Fox News is credibly backing him. “The Epstein Files” have already done deep damage. (See Blogs; “This is Epsteingate and Trump: The Epstein Tsunami”). Public interest is not waning and 7 out of ten polled believed that he is not handling the issue well. For the moment troops in Washington and chaos in the CDC are diversion enough to keep this off the front page. Ghislaine Maxwell’s characterization of Trump as a “gentleman” preceding her removal to a low security prison also has grabbed the headlines. 

On September 3 a bipartisan resolution in The House of Representatives will demand the release of the full Epstein files, not the garbage that the Department of Justice has dropped thus far. The House Oversight Committee chaired by a Republican has subpoenaed the prosecutor who fully investigated Epstein in 2005. They have also subpoenaed a co operating Epstein estate for about a dozen different categories of documents including a “Birthday Book”.The latter allegedly includes a lewd drawing by Trump who signed his name in a wavy fashion where the pubis is. Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal has already published the picture together with messages about “the secrets” that Trump claimed he and Epstein kept together. As this story develops the Epstein’s family forensic pathologist’s finding that homicide was more likely the cause of death is being revisited on the internet.

So a bipartisan House maybe on their way to expose the knight who campaigned to uncover “The Deep State”. Joe Rogan the most followed Trump influencer with many others have stated Trump has already “crossed a line”.Could the avatar who campaigned to uncover the deep state be part it himself? It is Trump’s biographer and Epstein chronicler Michael Wolff’s opinion that the full contents of the Epstein files will never be released.

On the night of September 3rd there will be a bipartisan Press Conference where 10 victims will also appear and Trump’s omnipotence will have its severest test yet.  

AT THE END OF THE DAY

It really is hard to imagine what follows. Perhaps a significant loss of Congress will turn Trump into more than a lame duck and stop his Civil War dead. He is old, off his game and cognitively impaired. His only show now is his cabinet meetings which is a feeble mimicry of  Saturday Night Live. It is hard to see him winning in 2026. it is even harder to imagine him allowing the Democrats to take over Congress. Even if MAGA loses the second Civil War the path back to American “exceptionalism” will be long and hard.

There are serious questions being asked about the President’s physical and mental health. Vice President Vance has stated that he is ready to take over “God forbid a terrible tragedy with Trump” but that Trump is in “excellent health”. He added, smilingly, that he had enough on the job training, (in the last 7 months).