A federal judge wrote that he resigned from the bench due to the United States Supreme Court’s blatant disregard for principles, according to The Washington Post.
Judge David S. Tatel, who was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by President Bill Clinton nearly 30 years ago, wrote that he retired from the court due to the Supreme Court’s “low regard” for judicial principles.
Tatel, 82, wrote in his memoir, Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice, that he grew tired of his work being reviewed by “a Supreme Court that seemed to hold in such low regard the principles to which I’ve dedicated my life,” according to The Post.
“It was one thing to follow rulings I believed were wrong when they resulted from a judicial process I respected,” he wrote. “It was quite another to be bound by the decisions of an institution I barely recognized.”
The Supreme Court has “kicked precedent to the curb” and become “a tragedy” for the rule of law, Tatel wrote.
The Supreme Court has taken a sharp turn to the right following the appointments of three justices by Donald Trump during his time in the White House. The right-wing court has ignored precedent to overturn landmark rulings, such as Roe v. Wade that established a nationwide right to an abortion and has signaled that other precedents are next on the chopping block.
The court is also facing ethics scandals that have raised questions about the justices’ impartiality.
The wife of Justice Clarence Thomas was involved in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and flags linked to the ‘Stop the Steal’ movement was displayed at Justice Samuel Alito’s home after the election.
Despite this, both justices have refused to recuse themselves from cases related to the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol that are before the court.
Those cases include whether Trump’s has absolute immunity from prosecution in special counsel Jack Smith’s election subversion case and a Jan. 6 case that challenges an obstruction law used to prosecute hundreds of rioters, including members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys.
