Oligarchs in Robes: The Tools of Dictatorship

by Rob C.
Art by Adam Zyglis

The Roberts Court likes to dress itself up as a temple of wisdom, where nine philosopher-kings humbly interpret the Constitution. In reality? It’s a smoke-filled casino where the house always wins, and the house is owned by billionaires, dark-money donors, and a Federalist Society fixer named Leonard Leo.

The “Umpire” Who Rigged the Game
Chief Justice John Roberts famously called himself an “umpire.” Cute line. Except his version of umpiring looks more like fixing the World Series. His lifelong project has been dismantling voting rights—culminating in Shelby County v. Holder, which gutted the Voting Rights Act and unleashed voter suppression across the country. This wasn’t impartial refereeing; it was sabotage in pinstripes.

Citizens United: Democracy for Sale
As I lay out in my book Democracy for Sale, no single case has done more to poison American politics than Citizens United v. FEC. With one ruling, the Court transformed corporations into “people” and money into “speech.” Translation: billionaires and multinational corporations could now spend unlimited amounts to buy elections, policies, and politicians. This wasn’t free speech—it was paid speech, and you and I can’t afford the entrance fee. The result? Dark money now floods our elections like raw sewage, drowning out the voices of ordinary Americans.

The 10 Worst Rulings (The Short List of Infamy)
• Bush v. Gore – The original coup, stopping the Florida recount and handing George W. Bush the presidency.
• Shelby County v. Holder – Gutted voting rights.
• Janus v. AFSCME – Kneecapped unions.
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health – Tore away reproductive rights after justices lied to Congress about Roe being “settled law.”
• Trump v. United States (2025) – The absurd ruling granting Trump “broad immunity,” but refusing to define it, effectively telling us: Dictatorship is fine, as long as we say so.

Clarence Thomas: Justice for Sale
If Citizens United legalized bribery, Clarence Thomas turned it into a lifestyle. Billionaire-funded vacations, yacht trips, private jets, luxury RVs, tuition for relatives—you name it, he took it. And in return? A steady stream of rulings that just so happen to benefit his benefactors. Ethics rules are for mortals, not oligarchs in robes.

Perjury in Robes
Remember when Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett told the Senate that Roe v. Wade was “settled law”? That was perjury with a side of smugness. Once they got their lifetime seats, they gleefully shredded half a century of precedent, proving the Court is less a legal institution and more a partisan hit squad in black robes.

The Shadow Docket & Dictator’s Toolkit
The Court has increasingly used the “shadow docket”—unsigned, unexplained rulings issued in the dead of night—to reshape American life without accountability. Combine that with their immunity ruling, and you’ve got the perfect starter kit for authoritarianism: one branch of government, unaccountable to the people, handing unchecked power to a wannabe dictator.

Leonard Leo: The Man Behind the Curtain
This is not an accident. Leonard Leo, Federalist Society kingmaker and dark-money impresario, has spent decades handpicking judges, funneling billions, and turning the Court into a wholly-owned subsidiary of the billionaire class. He doesn’t wear robes, but he may as well have written the Court’s decisions.

A Sliver of Hope
In this sea of corruption, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson shines as the most qualified justice in modern history. Her scathing dissents read like lifelines tossed to a drowning democracy. They remind us that while the majority is busy burning down the Constitution, there are still a few voices left willing to defend it.

My Closing Argument
The Roberts Court has ceased to be an impartial arbiter. It is now the judicial arm of the Trump's Authoritarian movement and the oligarch class. Through Citizens United, Shelby, Dobbs, and the immunity ruling, it has paved the road to oligarchy with gavels and lies.
If we don’t reform the Court—expand it, impose ethics rules, overturn Citizens United—then the future of this country belongs not to “We the People” but to “They the Billionaires.”

The Court has chosen sides. The question is whether we will.