{"id":35264,"date":"2024-08-02T11:43:36","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T18:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=35264"},"modified":"2024-08-02T11:43:36","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T18:43:36","slug":"you-arent-voting-for-a-4-year-presidency-youre-voting-for-a-40-year-scotus-majority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/08\/02\/you-arent-voting-for-a-4-year-presidency-youre-voting-for-a-40-year-scotus-majority\/","title":{"rendered":"YOU AREN’T VOTING FOR A 4-YEAR PRESIDENCY. YOU’RE VOTING FOR A 40-YEAR SCOTUS MAJORITY"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

FRI, 7\/26\/2024 – BY\u00a0CARL GIBSON<\/a> (Occupy.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This November\u2019s presidential election actually isn\u2019t about which party will control the White House for the next four years, but which party\u2019s ideology will direct the federal judiciary for the next several decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The power of a president as defined by Article II of the US Constitution<\/a> is relatively limited. They have the ability to sign and veto bills from Congress. They can dictate foreign policy, appoint ambassadors, and decide how the US will approach its relationships with other countries around the world. As commander-in-chief of the US military, they are the top civilian officer, though their powers are more like an admiral or a general and they can\u2019t commit US troops to foreign soil without a declaration of war from Congress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the most significant role of a president is to appoint federal judges (who must then be confirmed by the Senate). This power is most visible in the power of presidents to appoint members of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). A president\u2019s legacy is arguably best understood not by the impact the bills they signed into law had on the country, but in the decisions handed down by the Supreme Court justices they appointed. When voters cast their ballots this fall, they should be keenly aware that they are likely voting for the ideological makeup of the nation\u2019s highest court for potentially the rest of our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THERE IS NO MORE POWERFUL INSTITUTION THAN SCOTUS<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When combining the ability of the nation\u2019s highest court to overrule both the president and Congress, the finality of its decisions (the Supreme Court\u2019s caseload is almost entirely made up of appeals from lower courts and is the final step in the appeals process), the almost insurmountable difficulty in removing them, and the fact that its members serve for far longer than any individual president\u2019s administration, its nine members are easily by far the most powerful people in the United States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just in its last term alone, SCOTUS issued numerous controversial rulings that will fundamentally reshape the country for untold years and decades to come. In a list of the 15 most consequential decisions<\/a> this term, the Guardian found that the Court\u2019s six conservative judges almost always voted with the majority, meaning that judges hand-picked by the last three Republican presidents \u2013 two of whom didn\u2019t even win the popular vote \u2014 are leaving a lasting imprint on government and society that will last far beyond any individual presidency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are five of the more notable decisions SCOTUS issued this term:<\/p>\n\n\n\n