In the wake of the series of rulings handed down by the Supreme Court in recent years, including decisions on religious liberty, affirmative action, abortion, presidential immunity, and student loans, Democrats and many in the media have renewed their push for “court reform.” The language being deployed by many is that the originalist Supreme Court majority is somehow “illegitimate” or “stolen.” Media allies have buoyed this narrative, with one-sided reporting on the practices of justices such as Clarence Thomas. Now Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, endorses President Joe Biden’s radical court reform proposals and has a history of advocating for an expanded bench.
This is in keeping with extremely dangerous rhetoric from Democrats for the last few years, including a not-so-veiled threat from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who once stood in front of the Supreme Court and declared, “You will pay.” Sadly, one deranged individual traveled to Washington, D.C., to try to carry this out, attempting to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Being on the losing side of Supreme Court decisions can be dispiriting. Conservatives spent decades in the legal wilderness on a range of issues, content only to drown their sorrows in elegantly written dissents by the late Justice Antonin Scalia and to work hard to elect presidents who promise to appoint originalist justices. Conservatives worked within our democratic system to achieve these victories. Of course, it’s perfectly reasonable for liberals to disagree with a Supreme Court decision, but it erodes trust in our democracy and its institutions to continually attempt to delegitimize the court.
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Daniel is director of the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. His forthcoming book is Agents of Grace. He is also a bestselling author of several other books, including The Original Jesus, The Dignity Revolution, The Characters of Christmas, The Characters of Easter, and A Way With Words, and the host of a popular weekly podcast, The Way Home. Dan holds a bachelor’s degree in pastoral ministry from Dayspring Bible College, has studied at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and is a graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Angela, have four children.
