Speaking on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to give the annual State of the Union address, President Joe Biden directly addressed the Supreme Court, in an unusual move for the presidency, to pressure the high court about its abortion decision in the June 2022 ruling for Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
Last night, the State of the Union sounded more like the State of the Campaign. President Biden attacked his GOP opponent, labeled his opponents as threatening democracy, and even confronted the Supreme Court justices sitting in front of him that the voters will fix their wagons.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) March 8, 2024
In the decision — which was made after Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court to replace the progressive ACLU lawyer, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg — the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution does not guarantee U.S. citizens the right to an abortion and returned the issue to the states, overturning the precedent set in 1973 by Roe v. Wade.
In his outburst toward the Supreme Court, President Biden said, “And with all due respect, justices — women are not without electrical power — uh, excuse me, electoral, political power. You’re about to realize just how much you were wrong about that,” in what sounded like it could be a veiled threat to the nation’s high court justices.
Joe Biden THREATENS the Supreme Court:
"With all due respect, Justices, Women are not without electrical power! Excuse me, electoral or political power. You're about to realize just how much you're…"#SOTU pic.twitter.com/KkZqS7OqI6
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 8, 2024
It was not fair protocol in the first place for the chief executive to address the high court justices directly that way during a State of the Union address to Congress. While members of both chambers of Congress applaud or roll their eyes and boo the president, it is improper for a judge, so the justices traditionally sit and observe the address with no reaction.
But it was more offensive because the president’s words about a ruling he does not politically agree with sounded somewhat menacing or threatening. Someone leaked the abortion ruling before the Supreme Court officially entered it into law, raising the possibility that someone could threaten or attack a justice to change their decision, igniting worries over the safety of the court.
Police arrested a California man near Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s house in the middle of the night who had a weapon on him. He confessed he wanted to kill the justice after he learned about the leaked decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Protestors also showed up at the home of Justice Amy Coney Barrett to intimidate her. Some even stalked her children at school.
Protesters have now descended upon the home of Justice Amy Coney Barrett and her family, including seven children. This is just a day after the alleged attempted murder of her colleague, Justice Kavanaugh.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) June 9, 2022
