The U.S. Supreme Court’s Turn Toward Tyranny. May 4, 2023 by Heidi Li Feldman. Keynote for the Ontario Bar Association Legal Conference, “Cross Borders.” Lecture notes prepared by Heidi Li Feldman

Part One: Outline of Remarks [snipped]

• 1.   Overview of the current state of U.S. Supreme Court
• A.   Composition of the current Supreme Court bench
• i. Irregular withholding of Senate hearings to preserve a vacancy on the Court; three justices (Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett) appointed by Republican president for whom the vacancy was preserved
• ii.  Privatization of the vetting and selection of nominees by Republican President
• iii. Quid pro quo from Presidential candidate to key voting block
• iv. Appointment of one justice by a President who had announced intention to remain in office extra-constitutionally: Barrett
• B.   Ethics scandals
• i. Missing and inadequate financial disclosures: Thomas, Gorsuch
• ii. Ties to private organizations vetting and selecting Republican nominees: Thomas, Alito
• iii. Conflicts of interest arising from various Justices’ spouses’ professional and political activities: Thomas, Roberts
• C.   Shadow docket
• Issuing orders without argument or explanation
• D.   Radical, life-threatening decisions…”