As I understand it, the most useful aspect of a well-written dissent is that it can provide ammo for overturning bad decisions in the future. So in that sense, I support them. In the moment, eh.
The trouble is the liberals usually at least pretend to be trying to do that, so I think it's helpful in that sense. Obviously they shouldn't because they're playing by rules the cons aren't holding themselves to and yet.
the couple times dissents have been immediately pragmatic it's been the times they've made a call to action to congress to do their duty and fix the obvious mistake the court is making through legislation
Unless they are dissenting loudly, frequently, & in public, I say they are all just as corrupt.
Flush the whole court and start over. Fruit of a rotten tree.
Sure, but there's a case to be made that the reason we are where we are today is due to the dissents written by Thomas and, before him, Scalia. Justices have to strategize with the tools they have.
No, that's assuming that the rulings are based on law. They don't "have" to do anything. They decide what they want and then write a ruling provide retroactive justification.
I mean, they need cases and they need at least 5. The dissents set up the cases part. The entire conservative wing is sending signals to ADF to tee up the cases the wing wants.
I know this court no longer cares about standing or stare. But such courts have been beat back before, otherwise my family couldn't have come here and I couldn't be married. There's a lot that could be done politically. But I'm also all for dissents that articulate an affirmative vision of justice
You seem to have lawyer-brain about this. Practically, the only reason you think dissents set up a vision of justice is because you believe—without evidence—that laws must and will be followed. The right wing of this country is saying loudly and repeatedly that they don’t agree with us about that.
I am not a lawyer. But the notion that articulating an *alternative vision of justice* is useless is not something I can get behind. I'm a child of immigrants in an interracial marriage. Dissents laid the groundwork for my life being possible! They weren't enough! But they were necessary!
