The Nine Black Riders by Geoff Carter

Illustration by Michael DiMilo

By Geoff Carter

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy masterpiece The Lord of the Rings, the evil lord Sauron’s minions include the nine dark riders, known as the Ringwraiths or Nazgul, former men who have been seduced by the corrupt power of the one ring who would rule them all and turned into ghostly creatures beholden to the wicked whims of the dark lord. Even though Tolkien’s story is set in the mythical land of Middle Earth, it resonates with the struggles, fears, and hopes that are intrinsically and undeniably human. We feel it even today.

The Ringwraiths were once great men, kings who succumbed to the temptation of power and self-aggrandizement, and who were brought down by their own base instincts. Today, in the real world, a once-respected institution has also been brought down through its own greed, arrogance, and self-interest. The United States Supreme Court has fallen from the good graces of the American people—and fallen hard.

Last week, during the 2024 State of the Union address, President Joe Biden lamented the overturning of Roe -v- Wade and then staring directly at the six Supreme Court justices seated directly in front of him, proclaimed, “You wrote in the decision of the electoral and political power of women, and you’re about to find that out!”

Now this was not your usual SOTU address. One Republican senator came dressed in a MAGA hat and other campaign regalia, looking all the world like she was on her way to the carnival, but for a sitting president to publicly berate the Supreme Court at this event was unheard of. Uncle Joe was pissed off.

And it’s not only our president who’s angry. As a result of the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe -v- Wade, the right for a woman to choose has been relegated to the states. Some, like Arkansas and Mississippi, have very restrictive, draconian laws, forcing patients to sometimes travel hundreds of miles for treatment. In some of these states, victims of rape and incest who find themselves pregnant are refused treatment. In Texas, a doctor performing an abortion, or even advising a woman to get one, can be sued or criminally charged and sent to prison.

The Supreme Court did this despite the fact that the vast majority of Americans think abortion should be legal. According to a June 2023 Gallup Poll, sixty-nine percent of respondents believe that abortion should be available during the first three months of pregnancy. Now it may be argued that the Supreme Court is not a public institution, that it is the highest branch of the judiciary, interpreters and upholders of the law of the land, beholden only to the blind scales of justice.

Right.

The Supreme Court is such an apolitical institution that during his presidency, Donald Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett, an avowed pro-lifer, and Brett Kavanaugh, a dyed-in-the-wool conservative, as new members of the Court. Politics had nothing to do with it.

Right.

When Joseph Scalia died in February of 2016, President Obama nominated Merrick Garland as his replacement, but Senate Majority Mitch McConnell, citing his opinion that with an election coming up—six months later—that the Senate should wait for the new administration to be in place before ratifying the nomination. When the Republican Donald Trump was elected, he nominated conservative Neil Gorsuch, who the Senate promptly confirmed.

Because this is the highest court in the land, The Supreme Court’s honor and sense of ethics are irreproachable.

Right.

Justice Clarence Thomas, who has been on the bench since 1991, has been a controversial figure from day one. His Senate confirmation hearings were notable for the appearance of Anita Hall, a coworker who alleged Thomas had sexually harassed her. After some contentious exchanges back and forth between them, Thomas was certified as a Supreme Court justice, where he’s served for the past thirty-three years.

It has recently come to light that Justice Thomas has had some rather sketchy doings with conservative millionaire Harlan Crow and others. According to NPR, the conservative justice “took at least 38 vacations, 26 private jet flights, eight flights by helicopter, a dozen VIP passes to sporting events, as well as stays at luxury resorts in Florida and Jamaica” and broke the law by not disclosing these gifts to the court. This is only the latest report of Thomas’s shady dealings. Crow reportedly paid the mortgage for Thomas’s mother’s house and the tuition for a nephew. Justice Thomas also received monetary favors from David Sokol, and oil baron Paul Novelly. Pro Publica reports that these gifts run into the millions of dollars.

Then there is the matter of Ginny, Justice Thomas’s wife. A longtime conservative activist, Ms. Thomas has strong ties to the Trump White House. In the aftermath of the January 6^th Capitol riots, she came under scrutiny because of text messages exchanged between herself and members of the Trump team maintaining that the 2020 election was stolen and advocating for a “clean slate of electors”.

Justice Thomas’s questionable (a charitable way of putting it) relationships with these conservative businessmen and his wife’s active involvement with the Trump White House’s attempts to overthrow the results of the 2020 election cast doubts (a charitable way of putting it) on his ability to maintain objectivity in the past, current, and upcoming Supreme Court decisions concerning Donald Trump’s involvement in the January 6^th riot. Voices from nearly all quarters have called for him to recuse himself from all matters relating to the former president. Thomas has refused to do so.

Clarence Thomas is not the only one. Justice Samuel Alito took a luxury trip with hedge fund manager Paul Singer, who later brought business before the court. According to PBS, expense for this trip ran into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

During his term, Trump, along with his henchman Mitch McConnell, stacked the court with Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, both diehard conservatives. Barrett is—surprise—a stalwart pro-lifer.

When news of these revelations came out, and particularly after the Court overturned Roe -v- Wade, public confidence in the Supreme Court dropped like a rock. According to a recent Gallup Poll, job approval for the Court has dropped to 41%, just a point off its all-time low and only 49% still have confidence in them, another near-record low. 39%, another near-record high, believe the court is too conservative.

Of course, not all the justices on the court allow their political leanings, marital influences, or friendly donors to obscure their legal judgement, but—unfortunately, they have been tarred with the same brush as those who have abused the powers of their office. A once proud and distinguished institution (although not completely free of partisan blemishes—see the 2000 presidential election), the SCOTUS justices have fallen from grace and earned the disrespect of the American people, as well as the very public admonishment from the Chief Executive. Their latest decision to hear Donald Trump’s appeal for complete immunity for his involvement in January 6^th has been interpreted as a transparent attempt to help the ex-president delay his trial until after the 2020 election. It has raised the ire of many.

Like Tolkien’s Ringwraiths, his nine black riders, the United States Supreme Court has abandoned their high standards and strict principles and succumbed to earthly temptations. Money, power, and arrogance have corrupted them—some of them, but unlike the Ringwraiths, who are doomed to dwell in a hellish reality between life and death, the SCOTUS still has a chance at redemption. In order to begin to regain the trust of the American people, Chief Justice Roberts must exercise some control over the members of his court. Justice Thomas should resign or at the very least, recuse himself from all matters Trump. Justice Scalia should apologize and recuse himself from matters affecting his own self-interest.

Until then, the Court will be no more, and no less, than the horrifying—and somewhat sad—half-human creatures of Middle Earth—the nine black riders.