The Dark Money Supreme Court
The Political Scene | The New Yorker
The New Yorker
4.3 • 3.9K Ratings
🗓️ 1 July 2023
⏱️ 43 minutes
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Summary
The New Yorker staff writers Susan B. Glasser, Jane Mayer, and Evan Osnos take a look at the political and financial forces behind the U.S. Supreme Court’s hard right turn. This term saw significant rulings on affirmative action in college admissions, election law, immigration, and environmental protection, all in the shadow of the decision just one year ago to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion. Right-wing victories in those cases owe a lot to Leonard Leo, a conservative activist and lawyer who has played a profound role in reshaping the American legal system. With public approval of the Supreme Court at an all-time low, our political roundtable takes a look at Leo’s influence, and at the recent $1.6-billion donation his new nonprofit received.
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| 1:11.1 | Hey, should we talk about what we're going to call this court, what history is going to call this court, right? |
| 1:17.0 | I think, Evan, this is really an important conversation here because, you know, he or she who |
| 1:23.0 | coins the moniker, you know, gets the glory. And Supreme Court do give their names to political eras. |
| 1:29.6 | You know, is this, I'm not sure it's the Roberts Court, though. That's what's fascinating. |
| 1:33.3 | It feels like the Chief Justice has sort of lost the plot. Can I offer a possibility? How about |
| 1:39.0 | the Dark Money Court? Oh, here we go. Okay. That's good. This is the court that Dark Money bought and built. |
| 1:45.6 | By the way, I think it's important to note that Dark Money is the name of not only a seminal book by Jane, |
| 1:52.2 | but it really tease up an important conversation. We're going to be talking about the court today. |
| 1:55.8 | I think it is important to note that Jane's next book is going to be on this subject, too. And that's why... |
| 2:01.9 | Thank you, Susan. This is my... Hold on. You're burning it all in the locker room here. We've got to have this in our big reveal. |
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