The King’s Court

by Rob C.

Welcome to June 2025, where the Supreme Court has officially stopped pretending to be a check on power and is now functioning like a robed arm of authoritarianism — six conservative justices in black robes, delivering white-hot fury on women, immigrants, and the very foundation of American democracy.

Today, they ruled that South Carolina can exclude Planned Parenthood from Medicaid, even though it is a legal, licensed medical provider that delivers basic health care to millions. Why? Because the state doesn’t like that they provide care to women — and by care, I mean actual health care, not the dystopian propaganda pushed by the Federalist Society and Fox News. The Court just told states they can discriminate against providers based on ideology — a move so wildly unconstitutional it would’ve made Sandra Day O’Connor faint in her chambers.

Meanwhile, the Court is also entertaining the idea that birthright citizenship might not be guaranteed by the 14th Amendment — you know, the one written specifically to protect former slaves and their children from being denied citizenship in the United States. Now the right-wing justices are openly questioning whether the children of immigrants should be citizens at all. The same justices who demand “originalism” seem happy to shred the actual words of the Constitution when it serves their political project.

These aren’t isolated rulings. This is a pattern. A strategy. A long-game dismantling of individual rights, civil liberties, and the very idea that government should serve the people.

The Trump Court Has Gone Full Theocracy

With three seats handed to Donald Trump — a man currently on trial, under indictment, or in violation of nearly every democratic norm we have — the Supreme Court has become an unelected super-legislature, writing religious doctrine into law, legalizing corruption, and placing the President above the law.

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Let’s recap what this Court has already done in just the last year:

• Struck down decades of Chevron deference, kneecapping the ability of regulatory agencies to enforce laws passed by Congress. Now, industry lawyers — not scientists — will write our environmental, labor, and health regulations.

• Gutted environmental protections in the middle of a climate crisis.

• Weakened labor rights, including public-sector unions.

• Expanded gun rights while schools, grocery stores, and churches endure weekly mass shootings.

• Rolled back abortion rights, then allowed states to effectively criminalize doctors and women seeking care — and now, stripping Medicaid funds from providers who won’t toe the patriarchal line.

And let’s not forget the big one: in Trump v. United States, the Court ruled that the President cannot be prosecuted for “official acts” — effectively making the presidency a dictatorship in all but name.

In Democracy for Sale, I warned of this moment. In the chapter on the worst Supreme Court decisions in American history, I wrote:

“Power never asks permission. It takes — and the Court, if captured, becomes the perfect accomplice. Not with tanks or coups, but with briefs and robes and plausible deniability.”

We’re here.

The Legal Cover for Authoritarianism

You want to ban abortion nationwide? The Court’s got you.

Want to criminalize immigrants and maybe their American-born kids? Covered.

Want to give billionaires unlimited power to buy elections and dismantle regulations? Done.

Want to protect your political allies and punish your enemies with federal agencies? Just call it “official business.”

This is the judicial infrastructure of autocracy. And it’s not theoretical — it’s operational.

Russell Vought’s Project 2025 — the authoritarian blueprint backed by the Heritage Foundation — is moving through Congress and the White House at terrifying speed. But it could all fall apart without the Court. That’s why this isn’t just corruption — it’s collusion.

This is the legal coronation of a King.

The Constitution Is Now a Suggestion

The 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection under the law — unless you’re a woman.

The 1st Amendment guarantees freedom of religion — unless you’re not a Christian nationalist.

The rule of law says no one is above it — unless you're Donald Trump.

So let’s stop pretending this Court is conservative. It’s not. It’s radical, revolutionary, and utterly hostile to modern democracy. Their rulings are a rejection of the New Deal, the Civil Rights Era, Roe, Obergefell, and even the idea that the federal government has a role in securing fairness or justice.

What’s left is raw power — disguised in precedent, cloaked in civility, but every bit as authoritarian as a military junta.

And make no mistake: this Court is no longer the backstop against tyranny. It’s the launchpad.

Original Art by Shenman