‘Stunningly Wrong’: Samuel Alito Thinks Congress Has No Power Over Him

In case you forgot, Samuel Alito is a major a-hole who is majorly corrupt, and now, he’s insisting that no one but God Chief Justice John Roberts can judge him in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal. Yes, the same Wall Street Journal owned by Rupert Murdoch, you are correct.

Alito sat down with a reporter at The Wall Street Journal to pontificate, complain about how no one defends him in the media, and then drop a real doozy of a claim. Per The Wall Street Journal:

Justice Alito says he voluntarily follows disclosure statutes that apply to lower-court judges and executive-branch officials; so do the other justices. But he notes that “Congress did not create the Supreme Court”—the Constitution did. “I know this is a controversial view, but I’m willing to say it,” he says. “No provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court—period.”

Do the other justices agree? “I don’t know that any of my colleagues have spoken about it publicly, so I don’t think I should say. But I think it is something we have all thought about.”

Look, it’s been a long time since my high school civics class, but I seem to recall that the entire U.S. federal government was founded on the system of checks and balances. You know, thus the idea of splitting up power between three distinctive branches that the other two could keep in check from getting out of control? Now we have a sitting Supreme Court Justice saying that no one can check him, and that is outrageous! I may need to get out my oversized Starbucks cup, asymmetrical bob wig, and serenely entitled attitude because it really seems like it’s time to speak to America’s manager over this.

If you’re outraged, good! You should be! This is ridiculous! You’re also not the only one, Connetitcuit Senator Chris Murphy has something to say about this absurd and fascist statement Alito made. Per The Hill:

“First of all, it’s just stunningly wrong. And he should know that more than anyone else because his seat on the Supreme Court exists only because of an act passed by Congress. It is Congress that establishes the number of justices on the Supreme Court. It is Congress that has passed in the past requirements for justices to disclose certain information,” Murphy said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Checks and balances, baby! You brag about having unrivaled power that can’t be controlled and someone’s going to make sure you get your just desserts over that. (At the very least, someone will get a nice soundbite over it, but let’s hope something more comes of it.)

So, there are a couple of things that any American citizen should be horrified about over here. The first obviously is that Alito thinks Congress, whose members have been directly elected by the people, has no power over him, an unelected Supreme Court Judge. That’s horrifying. The second, which may not be so obvious off the bat because of how egregious the first issue is, is that this jerk has a lifetime appointment ruling on what is and isn’t legal, and he doesn’t even know the damn Constitution! Horrifying! Also, incorrect! Per USCourts.gov:

Although the Constitution establishes the Supreme Court, it permits Congress to decide how to organize it.

Ask anyone who’s ever done anything: organization is the key to everything. Congress could pass a law that only cute puppies can be Supreme Court Justices. Technically, that’s organizing it. It’s very dumb and illogical, but there’s nothing that says they can’t! Checkmate.

Also, Article III of the Constitution states that justices “shall hold their offices during good behaviour.” Who does he think gets to determine what “good” means? Himself??

Murphy, for his part, is not letting this go. Per The Hill:

“They just see themselves as a second legislative body that has just as much power and right to impose their political will on the country, as Congress does. They’re going to bend the law in order to impose their right-wing view of how the country should work on the rest of us,” Murphy added. “And it’s why we need to pass this common-sense ethics legislation to at least make sure we know that these guys aren’t in bed having their lifestyles paid for by conservative donors, as we have unfortunately seen in these latest revelations.”

He is absolutely correct. The legislative branch of our government needs to come check the judicial branch and rein them in because clearly, Chief Justice Roberts has no intention of ensuring his court is playing by the same rules everyone else has to. Personally, I hope this obnoxious Wall Street Journal interview is what kicks the legislative branch into high gear to do something. It would serve Alito right.

(Photo by Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images)