448 Comments
Jan 2, 2023·edited Jan 2, 2023

Congratulations on submitting the manuscript—can hardly wait for the book!

John Roberts is right that Supreme Court justices should not live in fear. It’s a shame that he didn’t extend that concern to all public servants.

A happy new year to you and yours.

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Chief Justice Roberts wrote, "“A judicial system cannot and should not live in fear." Neither should election workers, police officers or whistleblowers. People exercising their constitutional right to have their voices heard should not be faced with AR - 15s and those who brandish them should not be pardoned. People driving down the street or taking a run through a neighborhood should not do so in fear of their lives.

Where are the protections for them?

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Jan 2, 2023·edited Jan 2, 2023

Justice Roberts fails to mention that three Justices lied in their confirmation hearings in re believing Roe v Wade was “settled law.” So, we have three people on the Supreme Court who, after being sworn in for hearings, think nothing of lying under oath. And two other justices -- Alito and Thomas -- are politically compromised. So, this leaves four Justices who might have judicial integrity. Small wonder sixtysome percent of Americans polled think the Supreme Court has lost its integrity. History shows that the Supreme Court decisions reflect the majority of the society over which it presides. This Supreme Court is out of synch with the real America. It won’t last the test of time. Kavenaugh and Coning Barrett will likely spend their last decade(s) writing dissenting opinions, existing as artifacts of an America that no longer exists.

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Roberts' attempt to wrap himself in the flag of Brown v Board is simply preposterous. Thanks largely to the efforts of the Supreme Court to dismantle Brown, piece by piece, starting in the 1970s and continuing down to the present day, our public schools today are more segregated than they were in the late 1960s. They have been re-segregated under the watchful eye of the Supreme Court. And we are now living under the Roberts proclamation that "the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race." That is not a legal principle. It is a bromide.

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Surely it is appropriate to remind Roberts that our children and adult citizens going about their daily business should not have to live in fear. How much longer do we have to put up with such narrow, self serving hypocrisy from those we look to to uphold the law in the interests of the people? I thought more of Robert’s - another mistake!

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Congrats! And I cannot wait for its publication. Thank you for keeping me informed and inspired in 2022 while not feeding my feelings of impending doom. The gorgeous photos of Maine helped. Onward to 2023.

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Chief Justice Roberts, in his annual judiciary report, spoke of the need to increase security to protect justices.

Huh? What about the many people killed because the Supreme Court is so ‘permissive’ on gun laws? What about the lives impacted and lost because of the Dodds decision that killed Roe V. Wade?

Perhaps, if the majority on the Stench Court adhered to an evolving Constitution instead of their bizarre adherence to ‘originalism,’ some Supreme Court justices would feel more ‘secure.’

Although a majority of justices ruled that abortion clinics were not permitted to build security fences around their clinics, the Supreme Court has authorized a major security fence around the Supreme Court Building. I find this ‘abortive.’

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Republicans have stated that they fear that Democrats will “stack” the Supreme Court with “leftist liberals”, yet they said nothing when disgraced former President Donald Trump did exactly that, “stacking” the court with lying, right wing fascists during his term in office.

All three, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Comey Barrett lied to Congress during their confirmation hearings about Roe v Wade, being settled law and although there was no law broken in their lies, one would expect better of members of the court to be honest.

If the Supreme Court is to return to its former respected stature, all three of them along with Justice Thomas and Alito should resign, for obvious reasons.

That would also be a good start to 2023.....

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Congratulations! I know what it feels like to submit a manuscript--that heady combination of exhilaration and wait-did-I-fact-check-that-footnote....I'm glad you're enjoying the start of what promises to be another intensely fascinating year.

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Thank you for all you do for all of us, Heather. Including taking a day to rest. Starting 2023 off relaxed and refreshed is a good idea.

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My daughter and I attended a Black church in a very poor part of Charleston for several services during the Christmas season, 2019. The lovely pastor invited me to come to their New Year's Eve service. I was surprised: wasn't everybody out celebrating on New Year's Eve? Church on Christmas Eve, yes. But New Year's Eve? He told me that the Black congregations in the South sit through the night together. It's called "Watch Night". When the clock strikes midnight, everyone in the congregation hugs the people around them, saying, "We're FREE!!" It was one of the most moving experiences I have ever had. My hugs were welcomed, too. I chose to say, "I am SO GLAD that you are free!!"

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Happy New Year.. your consistent truth, always provided with grace, is so much appreciated...so very much needed in order to keep my head on straight!

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Yay for you! It must have been an amazing feeling hitting “send” after so many weeks/months working on this book. Congratulations and looking forward to reading once it is published.

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Congratulations on submitting the manuscript!! It’s a wonderful feeling (so for me it only extends to Law Review articles. I tried writing a book once...)

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Congratulations on sending off the MS.

And a very happy new year to you and yours!

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Happy New Year🎉 Heather and all of our family of Letters subscribers! I am looking forward to a much less tense year in 2023. For one thing, it isn't an election year this year. I also want to congratulate Heather with completing her manuscript. A real accomplishment!

I read the report of the Roberts report in The New York Times. I then opened the comments column. Most if all posters were not kind to Roberts or his report. His cowardness in not speaking of the Court's 2022 rulings seemed to rile most, especially concerning the Dobbs Decision. I think the next most popular issue with the report was about the Justices getting and Judges receiving extra protection from Congress for their safety, while ruling in favor of gun rights and stripping safety and a sense of security from the rest of us! Others mentioned how Trump's Supreme Court was going to be an albatross around Americans necks while we try to make progress on much of anything, like equality, climate, and just keeping the Constitution up to date with the rapidly changing world.

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