Coale Mind

Why the Supreme Court is Like a Bowl of Soup: Clarence Thomas + Dobbs = Legitimacy Worries

April 03, 2022 David Coale Season 2 Episode 17
Coale Mind
Why the Supreme Court is Like a Bowl of Soup: Clarence Thomas + Dobbs = Legitimacy Worries
Show Notes

Building on a recent interview that I did with the Lincoln Project, this episode examines why today's Supreme Court is like a bowl of soup, heated by two separate burners. The first is the ongoing scrutiny over Justice Thomas's recusal decisions in matters related to his wife's political activity. The second, cool now but with the potential to become blazing hot, is the pending Dobbs case in which the Court could significantly limit or even overrule Roe v. Wade. The combined heat potentially generated by these two issues--an ethical dispute about a Justice coupled with the possibility of a uniquely controversial ruling--could present a legitimacy problem for the Court of a magnitude not seen in recent memory.