To the editor: Law professor Ian Ayres attempts to define the problem with the US Supreme Court as Republican versus Democratic appointments and Republican versus Democratic positions. We have always had a court that was more conservative than the public majority, and we have always had judges who wrapped their personal biases in legal theories, just as we do today.
What's different today began with the so-called Powell memorandum of 1971 (named after Lewis F. Powell, who would later serve on the court) outlining how American companies could assert their power. Since then, there has been an organized and well-funded operation to take over the judicial system by conservative billionaires.
For the record:
8:46 am June 12, 2024An earlier version of the letter from Janet Polak of Beverly Hills mistakenly transcribed her name as Janey.
The simple mechanistic changes proposed by Ayres would not break that chain. Only a Congress that uses its financial power and its ability to regulate certain aspects of the court can achieve the necessary balance between the powers provided for in the Constitution.
Norman Rodewald, Moorpark
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To the editor: It is quite false to claim that “the Supreme Court has become disengaged from American society and is losing credibility.”
Why is this a concern now? It certainly didn't seem to be a problem when there was a liberal majority on the court for so many years.
It is quite evident that Ayres and the Democratic Party are furious that the court, a separate branch of government, has a conservative majority, and will now try to use any means to change that.
Janet Polak, Beverly Hills
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To the editor: Maybe I can give Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. a pass when he says he didn't know MAGA Republicans used the inverted flag, but Thomas?
How can a reasonable person not understand that accepting gifts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars will call their ethics into question?
And this is a court that has refused to create an ethics watchdog? Does anyone remember the name Anita Hill?
Anne Beaty, Eagle Rock
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To the editor: In a true democracy, “we the people” would have the right to elect or expel judges in secret, legal and honest elections.
The judges would not be beholden to the party of the presidents who appointed them. In this way, the magistrates would act at the will of the people.
A true democracy is of the people, by the people and for the people.
John Rodriguez, Laughlin, Nevada.
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To the editor: In effect, Alito tells every woman in America what she can do with her own body, but he can't tell his own wife what to do with the family flagpole?
Marla Allard, Washington
