Jim Bratten
“I want to tell you, Gorsuch. I want to tell you, Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price! You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”
Standing with abortion activists on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court building March 4, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) delivered that accusatory diatribe against two associate justices of the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, threatening them personally and intimidating the entire court, over an undecided case.
Schumer proclaimed, “Women’s reproduction rights have been attacked…” Then the blowhard expanded his threats, shouting, “We will tell President Trump and the Republicans, who have stacked the court… You’re gone in November!”
Spouting epithets isn’t unusual for Schumer and this isn’t the first time he has been premature, using the availability of the press cameras to his advantage. He perceives, correctly, that the two constitutional originalists won’t decide the case the way he wants them to, so his outrage is unleashed. He didn’t bother to attack Justice Thomas or Justice Alito, however, who also won’t decide the way he wants, since they weren’t appointed by President Trump.
The law stoking Schumer’s anger was passed in Louisiana in 2014 and requires that abortion providers must obtain admitting privileges at local hospitals within a 30-mile radius. It was passed to protect patients during abortions and to stop fly-by-night abortion operators. The law applies the same licensing standards to abortion providers as surgical ambulatory centers, using common sense, since abortion is a medical procedure and can be life-threatening if unforeseen circumstances develop.
Immediately, pro-abortion groups sued to protect abortion, not to protect the health or life of the mother, and the suit has been working its way up the court path since. In the case before the Supreme Court, June Medical Services v. Russo, an abortion provider is challenging the Louisiana law.
After Senator Schumer’s threatening tirade, Professor Jonathan Turley of Georgetown University Law School tweeted, “Schumer’s threat to the court that ‘you will pay the price’ is a direct attack on the integrity of the courts. I criticized Trump for his reckless comments about the courts. Where is the chorus of condemnation of Schumer? Schumer sounded more like a stalker than a statesman.”
Turley’s absolutely correct; no public outcry was heard from Republican leadership after Schumer’s rant; no “chorus” to dress down Schumer or castigate him for his vicious, outrageous remarks. There was, however, a response. FoxNews.com reported: “Chief Justice Roberts Issues Rare Rebuke to Schumer’s Dangerous and Irresponsible Comments: Trump Slams Lawmaker, Says Must Pay a Severe Price.”
That price could be a felony crime, punishable by up to ten years in prison. A statute, 18 U.S. Code §115, describes an action that “threatens to assault, kidnap, or murder, a United States official, a United States judge… with intent to impede, intimidate, or interfere with such official… while engaged in the performance of official duties…” It certainly fits Schumer’s threats.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke to Schumer’s public attacks last Friday, using his usual mild manner, giving Schumer a strong scolding from the Senate Floor. But is it even possible Schumer can be punished for violating a federal statute? Not in McConnell’s Senate, where the possible isn’t probable.
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