SCOTUS memes are proliferating on social media following a parade of unpopular decisions from the conservative court. People on the left side of the political spectrum are particularly unhappy and making their feelings known.
In rulings handed down in late June and early July 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States has allowed local governments to arrest people for being homeless, said that bribes are fine as long as they're given after the action is taken, erased precedent requiring judges to defer to experts, and most alarmingly, ruled that U.S. presidents have immunity from prosecution when it comes to certain crimes.
U.S. residents are at this point accustomed to alarming decisions from the nation's highest court that overturn decades of precedent and make drastic changes to how what we call justice will be implemented, or not. The overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 sent the signal that the court, which leans 6-3 in favor of conservatives, will be giving the left reason to seek coping mechanisms for the foreseeable future.
Humor is a well-known coping mechanism among human beings, and so SCOTUS memes have become an annual phenomenon around the end of June, when the court tends to release its most impactful decisions.
More and more each year, these jokes have taken the form of frustration with a Democratic presidency that has failed to prevent these rulings, predictions of worse to come, and expressions of outright despair over the direction in which the country is headed.
It's bad enough that some have come back around to remind people that none of this matters in the grand scope of the universe, so take joy in the little things. Like memes, maybe.
Starting on July 1, the majority of the SCOTUS memes are focused on the decision granting any sitting U.S. president immunity from criminal prosecution for certain "official acts" taking during their term.
This immunity is absolute for actions that involve the "exercise of his core constitutional powers," according to the opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts. Acts that are not directly related to the U.S. Constitution may enjoy some immunity, but only if they're official acts. What defines "official" and which actions are in defense of core constitutional powers and which ones are "core" will inevitably be subject to the interpretation of the courts.
These courts, of course, include the highly conservative Supreme Court that just gave us this ruling.
The SCOTUS ruling sends the January 6 case that it was based on back down to lower courts for consideration on whether Donald Trump's actions before and during the 2021 riot at the Capitol were "official" and therefore could be subject to immunity. This pretty much guarantees that the criminal case against him around those acts will be delayed until after the 2024 presidential election.
This is yet more bad news for Democrats, which is why you're seeing all the Supreme Court memes on Twitter right now.
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