Popular Supreme Court a threat to democracy? Liberals panic over latest poll

In addition to our system of representative democracy, we have institutions designed to resist popular impulse or demands. The U.S. Supreme Court is the principal example. Justices were given life tenure to insulate them from such pressures and intimidation. The court is designed to stand against majoritarian demands and what Madison called “the tyranny of the majority.”

That system has served us well. It was the counter majoritarian role that allowed the court to strike down bans on interracial marriage, decriminalize homosexuality and protect the rights of the accused. Those were unpopular acts, but the court followed the Constitution rather than the polls.

Levitz assumes that if the justices or the institution were unpopular, it would compel different outcomes or changes on the court. Ethical jurists on both the left and the right reject that notion as the very antithesis of the rule of law.

The left once celebrated the independence of the court in ordering relief that was denied or blocked in Congress like desegregation. After Brown v. Board of Education, political groups responded with the same anger of Levitz with “Impeach [Chief Justice] Earl Warren” billboards.

This year, extreme groups like Demand Justice have run their own billboards targeting justices like Stephen Breyer to push them to retire. With the support of many law professors, they are also demanding that Congress pack the court to create an instant liberal majority.

As in the 1960s, Democratic politicians are issuing direct warnings to the justices to rule “correctly,” or face consequences. Professors have declared that “our Constitution isn’t working” because they are not seeing the outcomes that they deem to be correct. Senators and commentators are now calling for “revolution” and “rebellion” to achieve what cannot be achieved in a system that has worked for over two centuries to preserve stability and freedom for our country.

As many on the left attack those who encouraged “insurrection,” such rhetoric is perfectly fine in pursuit of a progressive cause. After all, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., asked why we should preserve an institution if it is not going to vote consistently with her views and those of the Democratic Party: “How much does the current structure benefit us? And I don’t think it does.”

That brings us back to Roberts and his pesky popularity. You cannot achieve a revolution without people getting really angry. Yet, despite a steady drumbeat in the media, it is not working. Indeed, the Gallup poll shows the diminishing power of the mainstream media, which has largely abandoned half of the country with its embrace of “advocacy journalism.”