Alexandra Brodsky
We Can No Longer Afford Illusions | The Supreme Court and the Left
Alexandra Brodsky
That the Supreme Court is ethically compromised has become almost comically obvious. Recent sweeping decisions, from the overturning of Roe v. Wade to the dismantling of affirmative action, to the extension of innocent Americans’ prison sentences, have been handed down in the midst of myriad scandals involving justices and their wealthy, purportedly uncorrupt friends. The high court, now dominated by conservatives, is not just independent but dangerously rogue. For Issue...
The Temptation to Speculate
Alexandra Brodsky
I have a degree in psychoanalyzing Anthony Kennedy. When I was a law student, he was still the swing vote on major social issues, and therefore a topic of disproportionate interest around the school. And his opinions were, to put it technically, heavy on vibes. Behind the legal reasoning lay a worldview, a set of commitments somewhere between the ethical and the aesthetic, that I found harder to pin down...
The Law on Trial
Alexandra Brodsky
I assume that, by next summer, the Supreme Court will have overturned Roe v. Wade. Many states will swiftly outlaw abortion; some already have laws on the books that will be triggered as soon as the Court hands down its decision. I also fear that, within a decade, the Court will rule that abortion is unconstitutional. If it does, even blue states that would like to keep abortion legal will...
“Steered by the Reactionary” | What To Do About Feminism
Alexandra Brodsky
For a long time now, we’ve had the sense that feminism is in trouble. In the years before the pandemic, its most prominent battles — the Hillary Clinton campaign, the Women’s March, #MeToo, the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, “Nevertheless, she persisted” — were about figureheads. These days, symbols no longer seem adequate, or even all that meaningful. The professions (teaching, nursing, eldercare) that have been most overtaxed and underprotected during the...
