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this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2025
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No Congress abdicated its duty and so did the Supreme Court. If they were doing their jobs Sit like this wouldn't happen.
To be fair Supreme Court was taken over by Republicans because the constitution is shit and with partisan SP there was no one to make sure Congress or the President follow the law.
The very fact that Supreme Court justices are politically appointed, for life no less, is so beyond retarded I don't see how it was ever intended to be a check or balance in the system. How was this ever a good idea?
That's why I said that US constitution is shit. Modern constitutions solve this in a different way, actually separating the judicial branch. It's normal that the first constitution didn't get it right. What's insane is that US system was never reformed. In other countries people celebrate constitutions that are just historical documents. In Poland for example "Constitution day" celebrates constitution from 1791 that was used only for couple of years. It would never occur to anyone to actually try to use this constitution today. Yet that's exactly what US is doing. They can't comprehend that some documents can be placed in a museum and still be respected.
The answer is relatively simple, the supreme court just kinda gave itself a shit tonne of power early on and nobody stopped them. Also the states were meant to work as a check on federal power as well, if this shit happened pre-1910s there's a solid chance the president would've been shot or otherwise DC would be under siege from Maryland and/or Virginia.
...can a president appoint themselves as a Supreme Justice, eliminate all the other justices, and then just be the head of the judiciary for life?
It should be a stupid idea, but recent events have been of little comfort.
A nominee must be confirmed by the senate, so there are checks and balances to prevent this from happening
At least we thought there were
Appointees do have to be approved by the Senate, but we've already seen that the republicans are perfectly happy to rubber stamp anyone who will favor republican policies. I don't know if the president could appoint himself, but I'd bet a republican-controlled senate would be happy to confirm him even if some law theoretically disallows it. The president cannot himself remove the justices through any mechanism of law (as if he cares about that), but justices can be removed by Congress via impeachment. I am not a lawyer, but I'm thinking a sufficiently corrupt congress/senate could make it happen.
It's depressing how much of our government and legal system relied on the idea that at least most people would act in good faith.
Even if, the courts are there to punish, not prevent. The damage would already have been done.
No, constitutional tribunals decide if new laws are constitutional or not. They can throw away a law even before it's enacted or applied anywhere. They very much do prevent things.
I mean they don't physically keep you from committing illegal acts. It's just words until you've done something.
I mean, yes, but if US had a truly independent judicial branch it would be a totally different country today. They only have politicians committing crimes on a daily basis because the system deteriorated over time. Real checks and balances are meant to prevent that.