What’s at Stake With the Supreme Court? Everything

 

What’s at stake with the prospective Supreme Court justice decision? According to NowThis Senior Politics Producer Allan Piper, everything.   

There are nine Supreme Court justices, and for a long time, four were generally liberal-leaning, four were generally conservative-leaning, and one was a swing voter. Under this system of justices, marriage equality was passed, Obamacare was upheld, and the Voting Rights Act was struck down — all with a final vote of 5-4. Needless to say, the swing vote has been an imperative part of almost every major Supreme Court decision in recent years.

When Senate Republicans blocked President Obama from appointing a Supreme Court justice of his choosing, this didn’t change the dynamic up at all, because a conservative judge was replaced with another conservative judge. But with the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy — the whole system will potentially shift dynamically.

It could also entail a lot more conservative-leaning rulings for the next several decades, which is bad news for women’s health rights. Trump has promised in the past that he would elect a judge to overturn Roe v. Wade — and if he succeeded — there are 14 states where abortion could become illegal automatically. The judges could also shape civil rights, voting rights, workers’ rights, and LGBTQ+ rights for decades — suffice to say there’s a lot at stake.

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