The Guardian: Special master ruling shows Trump’s takeover of courts has started to sting
This excerpt is from a piece that originally ran on September 18, 2022.
Less visible and much less well comprehended are the similarly drastic shifts that are being initiated in the lower courts by Trump-appointed judges like Cannon. “These appointments are not only tilting the law further right, they are starting to erode fundamental democratic protections,” said Rakim Brooks, president of the advocacy group Alliance for Justice.
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Herein lies a problem for Biden as he battles to rebalance the federal judiciary – how to dilute the influence of ideologically motivated judges on the powerful appeals courts where vacancies rarely arise. “On appeals circuits like the fifth and the 11th, Republicans have a stranglehold and they are launching their offensive on the constitution from there,” Brooks said.