Rights Are Won Through Struggle, Not Handed Down by the Courts
The US Supreme Court is on the rampage, rolling back progressive gains from abortion rights to climate action. To stop conservative judges, we need to recognize that the law is a product of social struggle and shift the balance of forces outside the courts.
Abortion rights protesters rally on July 4, 2022, in Philadelphia, PA. (Hannah Beier / Getty Images)
The right-wing supermajority on the US Supreme Court is on the warpath, overturning abortion rights and stripping the Environmental Protection Agency of its powers, while Democrats in the House of Representatives can only sing “God Bless America” in response. In Spain, an equally partisan judiciary is trying to block progressive legislation and prosecuting lawfare campaigns against left-wing politicians.
Britain’s opposition leader, the former state prosecutor Keir Starmer, tries to cultivate an image as “Mr Rules,” even as the Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson flaunts his belief that there’s one law for him and another for the little people. The police force in Britain’s capital may be “in special measures” after a shameful succession of scandals, but Starmer wretchedly insists that Labour is the party that will recruit the most police.
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