Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) demanded Sunday that Supreme Court justices pay “consequences” for participating in a “hostile takeover” of American democracy.
What did AOC say?
Ocasio-Cortez claimed on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that the United States is facing a “crisis of our democracy” because the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Specifically, Ocasio-Cortez alleged that multiple Supreme Court justices lied during their Senate confirmation hearings and overturned abortion precedents “without basis.” She suggested there must be repercussions for such actions.
“If we allow Supreme Court nominees to lie under oath and secure lifetime appointments to the highest court of the land and then issue without basis — if you read these opinions — issue without basis, rulings that deeply undermine the human and civil rights of the majority of Americans, we must see that through,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“There must be consequences for such a deeply destabilizing action and a hostile takeover of our democratic institutions,” she continued.
“To allow that to stand is to allow it to happen,” she added. “And what makes it particularly dangerous is that it sends a blaring signal to all future nominees that they can now lie to duly elected members of the United States Senate in order to secure Supreme Court confirmations and seats on the Supreme Court.”
Full AOC: ‘The Supreme Court Has Dramatically Overreached Its Authority’
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The New York Democrat, however, failed to explain how abortion precedents were overturned “without basis.”
The court opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization totaled more than 78 pages, dismantling piece by piece what many legal scholars — including Ruth Bader Ginsburg — believed was faulty jurisprudence by an overreaching court.
Later in the interview, Ocasio-Cortez said she believes that lying under oath is an “impeachable offense,” suggesting those Supreme Court justices who she believes are guilty of lying should be impeached.
Did the justices lie?
Since Dobbs was handed down last Friday, countless Democrats — and even Republican Sen. Susan Collins — have either suggested or outright claimed that Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh lied during their Senate confirmation hearings.
Central to their allegation is that each justice agreed that Roe v. Wade was a court precedent that had been reaffirmed by Planned Parenthood v. Casey. However, none of the justices explicitly said they would vote to uphold Roe if the issue of abortion came before the court in the future.
In the case of Dobbs, Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the court opinion, thoroughly explained why Roe should be overturned and why the legal doctrine of stare decisis did not mandate the court to uphold Roe forever.