Friends, the Supreme Court is finally in recess. But I'm still reeling from the past few weeks — and I bet you might feel the same.

There’s a lot to talk about, so I’ll make this intro brief. Horrified and appalled don’t even begin to cover how I’m feeling about the right-wing justices’ decisions this term. Their grabs at power have never been more blatant, and their efforts to roll back our rights in some of the most dangerous, dehumanizing ways possible seem to only be ramping up in intensity. 

But one more thing I’m feeling is fired up — and you should be, too. The Roberts Court’s mask of “moderation” is slipping, and every day, more people see the Republican justices for the political operatives they are.

We’re bringing this energy to Netroots Nation, the nation’s largest gathering of progressive advocates, this week (more on that below), and I believe it will continue to carry us through the summer as we ramp up our work to, together, take back the court from these extremists and put it back where it belongs: in the hands of the people.

Thank you as always for reading. I’m ready to fight harder than ever to reform and rebalance this broken institution, and I’m grateful to do so with you.

It’s impossible to boil down all our thoughts on — let alone our frustration and rage with — this Supreme Court term to just a few sentences. But some key themes definitely stuck out in this latest wave of dangerous decisions. Here's 3 we think are particularly important:

1. Unbounded Hubris. If I only had one word to characterize the court’s opinion in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo — and really, this whole term — it would be hubris. In Loper Bright, the court overturned the 40-year-old Chevron doctrine and gave judges authority over agency experts in how federal rules and regulations are implemented.
   
   It’s emblematic of perhaps the only consistent principle that has emerged from the current right-wing majority: that it should have the final say on everything — from holding fraudsters accountable to allowing dangerous firearms on the streets to emergency abortion care and beyond. 
   
   
2. Unmasked Extremism. In years past, Chief Justice Roberts has spearheaded efforts to make his extremist supermajority appear “moderate.” But that PR strategy fell apart these past few weeks — from greenlighting bribes to elected officials to leaving the door open for further challenges to medication abortion, fewer people than ever are buying the idea that this rogue court is in any way “restrained.”
   
   It’s clear that this is a right-wing court determined to make the most extreme policies from the bench — and the justices aren’t even attempting to hide it anymore.
   
   
3. Unrelenting Turn Toward Authoritarianism. This term, the court revealed its most true and honest nature: It is on an unrelenting mission to destroy democracy and ensure power lies in the hands of a small few. Just take the court’s “if the president does it, it isn’t illegal” stance in Trump v. U.S. — we can feel confident that that will not apply equally to Democratic and Republican presidents. (That much is clear from Justice Sotomayor’s dissent, which she wrote “[w]ith fear for our democracy.”)
   
   This term will be seen as a pivotal point in the turn toward authoritarianism — unless we do the hard work of fighting back, reclaiming our courts and our country.

We go into greater detail about this term’s cases and the above themes on our Substack. If you’re interested, you can subscribe here to get our posts in your inbox and to join the conversation!

Politico Magazine | The Supreme Court Gave Trump a Stunning Gift — and Rewrote the Constitution.

"The Republican appointees’ decision is only going to further bolster the notion that they are committed to partisanship in the most important and politically consequential cases that come before them.

"They claim to be textualists, but there is no textual support for their ruling in the Constitution.

"They claim to be originalists, but there is no meaningful historical support for their decision."

Slate | The Supreme Court Is Out of Control. This Is Our Best Hope.

“Right now, we have a Supreme Court that acts as a power-hungry, partisan policymaker. It is fundamentally antidemocratic for unelected judges to constantly overturn laws passed by the people’s elected representatives in Congress. But things do not have to be this way—Congress can reshape the court and change how it works.”

The New Republic | The Case for Expanding the Supreme Court Has Never Been Stronger

“We need new, principled judges to keep the extremist justices on the Robert’s court, and now the newly empowered president, in line. Many Democrats in Congress grasp their constitutional responsibility to regulate the judiciary, and are willing to exercise it to rebalance the Supreme Court. Now it needs to become a central part of the Democratic platform. Biden and his team need to wake up. It is not enough to merely dissent, as Biden did after the decision in Trump v. U.S. He needs to help restore the balance.”

While the Republican operatives in justice robes are on their summer break (possibly, we assume, enjoying extravagant vacations on right-wing megadonors’ dimes), those of us in the court reform movement are as energized in our work as ever. And this week, we’re bringing that energy to Netroots Nation.

Netroots is the nation’s largest gathering of progressive advocates — and we’re hosting conversations with brilliant thinkers and elected officials to dive into some of the most pressing issues of our time. 

Register to join us!

First, on Thursday, we’re hosting a discussion with Senator Tina Smith and other leading voices in the repro movement about the urgent need to repeal the Comstock Act — a dangerous, antiquated zombie law that right-wing extremists aim to weaponize in their ongoing campaign to cut off access to abortion.

Then, on Friday, with all eyes on the election, we’ll invite thought leaders Brian Beutler, Paul Waldman, and Stasha Rhodes to join our own Jamison Foser for a conversation moderated by Meagan Hatcher-Mays to make the case for why Democrats should campaign against the Supreme Court.

If you’re in the DC metro area, we’d love to see you there! If you’re not, don’t worry — both the panels will be livestreamed. If you’d like to attend in person or watch the conversations online, you can register for Netroots Nation 2024 here. We hope to see you there!

If you enjoyed this edition of Full Court Press, I hope you’ll consider chipping in to support our work to expand the Supreme Court to put power back where it belongs – with the people.