The Supreme Court will begin a new term on Monday, in which it is set to hear pivotal cases for transgender and LGBTQ rights, for our environment, and gun violence. But the term’s biggest blockbuster could be a case that not only hasn’t yet been filed, but is still just a concept.

That’s because in the next three months, the justices may be asked to inject themselves into the late stages of the 2024 election. If presented with such an opportunity, this could be the term that the Supreme Court elects Donald Trump.

The high court has already been a player in this election. Last term, the justices ensured that Trump’s attempt to steal 2020’s election could not disqualify him from the presidency, issuing a decision assuring he would appear on every ballot. The court delayed Trump’s criminal trial over his attempted coup, then granted him broad immunity from criminal prosecution, preventing damaging courtroom revelations from emerging before voting. In August, the court used its shadow docket to allow Arizona, a key swing state, to require proof of citizenship with voter registration forms at the request of the Republican National Committee.

But perhaps least known—and yet, most important—was Moore v. Harper, a 2023 ruling in which the court set the stage for the next Bush v. Gore scenario by holding that the justices themselves would have the last say when it comes to questions over state-level election rules and disputes.

  • FartsWithAnAccent
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    4122 hours ago

    Denying the will of the people has historically had some pretty ugly outcomes, I really hope they don’t.

    • @grue
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      5421 hours ago

      I hope the American public has the will to make it ugly for them, if necessary.

      • @[email protected]
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        2521 hours ago

        I’m going with no.

        We’ll all rush to social media, post about guillotines and then go back to work like we always do.

        I’m generally not one to advocate for violence, but if they pull this shit again we better fucking get violent. :(

        • rand_alpha19
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          1721 hours ago

          The average person has no clue how to deal with simple anti-protest tactics like tear gas or pepper spray, so I doubt they’d be willing to risk their actual lives fighting against trained police officers or military forces.

          An arrest likely also means being fired and 1/4 of US residents have less than $1000 in savings.

          • @[email protected]
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            719 hours ago

            To the first, yep, it definitely won’t work. It’s too bad we know the addresses of the actual assholes doing all this, but (nearly) all protesting is carried out in… some other stratosphere of the vicinity.

            As for the second? Yup. I’ve got three dependents to take care of and various other people who I help out. There’s no way I can contemplate letting them all suffer if something happened to my income. We’re wage slaves.

      • @[email protected]
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        416 hours ago

        It’s not gonna happen. We still have McDonald’s and Netflix. (Bread and circuses is kind of dated at this point.)