Thomas Zimmer: The “Originalist” Supreme Court vs Democracy As the Right is using “originalism” to re-impose a reactionary order on the country, I exchange letters with @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social about the dangers of judicial supremacy – and how to get out of this trap Some thoughts from my new piece: 🧵1/

The “Originalist” Supreme Court vs Democracy As the Right is using “originalism” to re-impose a reactionary order on the country, I exchange letters with @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social about the dangers of judicial supremacy – and how to get out of this trap Some thoughts from my new piece: 🧵1/

The “Originalist” Supreme Court vs Democracythomaszimmer.substack.com As the Right is using “originalism” to re-impose a reactionary order on the country, I exchange letters with Madiba Dennie about the dangers of judicial supremacy – and how to get out of this trap

Over the weekend, Madiba and I talked about her book, the past and present of the Supreme Court, the role of the Reconstruction Amendments in American history, the rise of “originalism” since the 1950s, and the struggle to establish egalitarian democracy. 2/

In a functioning system, citizens should be able to trust the institutions that are nominally tasked with upholding democracy. In America, the rightwing supermajority on the Supreme Court acts as the spearhead of a reactionary mobilization against multiracial pluralism. 3/

In this crusade to entrench and maintain discriminatory hierarchies of race, gender, religion, and wealth, conservatives are deploying “originalism” as a key weapon to dismantle the civil rights order. 4/

They are trying to turn the clock back – as far back as to before the Reconstruction Amendments that were adopted after the Civil War – by repealing whatever racial and social progress they say is not in accordance with the Constitution’s “original public meaning.” 5/

We start our conversation with the, excuse me, origin story of originalism: It rose in response to Brown v Board in 1954 – deployed by those who rejected integration, part of an attempt to delegitimize the idea of multiracial democracy from the beginning. 6/

Originalism’s rise was part of a broader mobilization against the progressive changes of the 1950s and 60s – tied to the institutionalization of the conservative legal movement as well as the grassroots mobilization of rightwing activists. By the 90s, it had become dogma. 7/

I’ve always wondered how a theory like originalism showed up in a common law system, in which it makes absolutely no sense. Like, negative sense. Really looking fwd to both convo and book.

I heard the term 'restorative nostalgia,' which seems to be apt.

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