SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks in front of the U.S. Capitol on July 28th, 2022.
(Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
AOC Calls Out 'Dangerous Authoritarian Expansion of Power in the Supreme Court'
'There also must be impeachment on the table'
Jul 02, 2023
US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Sunday warned of an “authoritarian expansion of power” by the Supreme Court and demanded that lawmakers on Capitol Hill use all of their oversight authority to probe and stop the corruption inside the Supreme Court.
“The courts, if they were to proceed without any check on their power, without any balance on their power, then we will start to see an undemocratic and, frankly, dangerous authoritarian expansion of power in the Supreme Court,” Ocasio-Cortez said on CNN’s “State of the Union.’
“Which is what we are seeing now, from the overturning of abortion rights to the ruling that discrimination and, frankly, stripping the full personhood and dignity of LGBTQ people in the United States. … These are the types of rulings that signal a dangerous creep towards authoritarianism and centralization of power in the court,” the New York Democrat said.
CNN's Dana Bash asked, “Are you saying that the justices’ power should somehow be limited?”
Ocasio-Cortez said, “I truly do. And this is not new; this is not a new development in history. This is part of our system of checks and balances. The courts, if they were to proceed without any check on their power, without any balance on their power, then we will start to see an undemocratic and frankly dangerous authoritarian expansion of power in the Supreme Court, which is what we are seeing now from overturning abortion to the ruling for discrimination and frankly stripping the full dignity and personhood of LGBTQ people in the United States.”
She added, “There also must be impeachment on the table. We have a broad level of tools to deal with misconduct, overreach, and abuse of power and the Supreme Court which has not been receiving the adequate oversight necessary in order to preserve their own legitimacy. And in the process, being themselves have been destroying the legitimacy of the court, which is profoundly dangerous for our entire democracy.”
‘Profoundly disrespectful’: AOC responds to Justice Thomas’ criticism of Justice JacksonDemocratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joins CNN's Dana Bash to respond to the Supreme Court's decisions on ...
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Sunday warned of an “authoritarian expansion of power” by the Supreme Court and demanded that lawmakers on Capitol Hill use all of their oversight authority to probe and stop the corruption inside the Supreme Court.
“The courts, if they were to proceed without any check on their power, without any balance on their power, then we will start to see an undemocratic and, frankly, dangerous authoritarian expansion of power in the Supreme Court,” Ocasio-Cortez said on CNN’s “State of the Union.’
“Which is what we are seeing now, from the overturning of abortion rights to the ruling that discrimination and, frankly, stripping the full personhood and dignity of LGBTQ people in the United States. … These are the types of rulings that signal a dangerous creep towards authoritarianism and centralization of power in the court,” the New York Democrat said.
CNN's Dana Bash asked, “Are you saying that the justices’ power should somehow be limited?”
Ocasio-Cortez said, “I truly do. And this is not new; this is not a new development in history. This is part of our system of checks and balances. The courts, if they were to proceed without any check on their power, without any balance on their power, then we will start to see an undemocratic and frankly dangerous authoritarian expansion of power in the Supreme Court, which is what we are seeing now from overturning abortion to the ruling for discrimination and frankly stripping the full dignity and personhood of LGBTQ people in the United States.”
She added, “There also must be impeachment on the table. We have a broad level of tools to deal with misconduct, overreach, and abuse of power and the Supreme Court which has not been receiving the adequate oversight necessary in order to preserve their own legitimacy. And in the process, being themselves have been destroying the legitimacy of the court, which is profoundly dangerous for our entire democracy.”
‘Profoundly disrespectful’: AOC responds to Justice Thomas’ criticism of Justice JacksonDemocratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joins CNN's Dana Bash to respond to the Supreme Court's decisions on ...
US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Sunday warned of an “authoritarian expansion of power” by the Supreme Court and demanded that lawmakers on Capitol Hill use all of their oversight authority to probe and stop the corruption inside the Supreme Court.
“The courts, if they were to proceed without any check on their power, without any balance on their power, then we will start to see an undemocratic and, frankly, dangerous authoritarian expansion of power in the Supreme Court,” Ocasio-Cortez said on CNN’s “State of the Union.’
“Which is what we are seeing now, from the overturning of abortion rights to the ruling that discrimination and, frankly, stripping the full personhood and dignity of LGBTQ people in the United States. … These are the types of rulings that signal a dangerous creep towards authoritarianism and centralization of power in the court,” the New York Democrat said.
CNN's Dana Bash asked, “Are you saying that the justices’ power should somehow be limited?”
Ocasio-Cortez said, “I truly do. And this is not new; this is not a new development in history. This is part of our system of checks and balances. The courts, if they were to proceed without any check on their power, without any balance on their power, then we will start to see an undemocratic and frankly dangerous authoritarian expansion of power in the Supreme Court, which is what we are seeing now from overturning abortion to the ruling for discrimination and frankly stripping the full dignity and personhood of LGBTQ people in the United States.”
She added, “There also must be impeachment on the table. We have a broad level of tools to deal with misconduct, overreach, and abuse of power and the Supreme Court which has not been receiving the adequate oversight necessary in order to preserve their own legitimacy. And in the process, being themselves have been destroying the legitimacy of the court, which is profoundly dangerous for our entire democracy.”
‘Profoundly disrespectful’: AOC responds to Justice Thomas’ criticism of Justice JacksonDemocratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joins CNN's Dana Bash to respond to the Supreme Court's decisions on ...
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.