The Supreme Court just gutted wetland protections after lobbying by Harlan Crow’s business interests.
By Branko Marcetic, The Lever
Despite being caught in a swirling corruption scandal, the Supreme Court continues to rule on cases and issue far-reaching decisions that shatter years of precedent to rewrite the country’s laws. For the moneyed interests who have spent big to financially influence the courts, this is very much according to plan. One of the court’s latest bombshell rulings shows just how handsomely the effort is paying off.
![Clarence Thomas](https://progressivehub.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/clarence-thomas-uai-258x145.png)
Late last month, in a 5-4 ruling on the Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency case, the Supreme Court dramatically narrowed the scope of the 1972 Clean Water Act in an act of judicial activism so brazen, even the Donald Trump-appointed Brett Kavanaugh accused the court of “rewriting” the law and failing to “stick to the text.”
To do so, Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, simply disposed of the statute’s deliberately broad coverage of wetlands that are “adjacent” to “waters of the United States,” redefining that word as meaning “adjoining” — a different word with a different meaning — and claiming that only wetlands with a “continuous surface connection” to protected waters were covered by the Clean Water Act. Environmental groups say it will take away protections for more than half of the country’s 118 million acres of wetlands.
That decision — widely criticized for its linguistic games and overturning of long-standing precedent — is directly tied up in the corruption scandal that has embroiled Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas in particular.
Recent Posts
Israeli Forces Reportedly Kill U.S. Human Rights Activist With ‘Deliberate Shot To The Head’
September 6, 2024
Take Action Now “A soldier fired directly at the protestors, hitting the American activist in the head from behind,” said one……
Who Wants To Kill And Die For The U.S. Empire?
September 6, 2024
Take Action Now As Israeli and Ukrainian leaders see their political support crumbling, Netanyahu and Zelenskyy are taking increasingly desperate…
Knowledge Is Power. Gaza War Supporters Don’t Want Students To Have Both.
September 5, 2024
Take Action Now The elites that were appalled by the moral uprising on college campuses against Israel’s slaughter in Gaza are now doing all they can…
U.S. Media Doesn’t Care About Macron’s Election Corruption
September 4, 2024
Take Action Now The U.S. press is losing interest as the winners of France’s election are barred from taking power. By Paul Hedreen, FAIR……