US Supreme Court under scrutiny ahead of November vote

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00:00The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a bid by President Joe Biden's administration

00:08to enforce in Texas federal guidance requiring hospitals to perform abortions if needed to

00:14stabilize a patient's emergency medical condition.

00:17The Supreme Court justices turned away the appeal of a lower court decision that halted

00:22enforcement of the guidance in Texas where a Republican-backed near total ban on abortion

00:27is in effect against two members of two anti-abortion medical associations.

00:32We're looking at how the Supreme Court's influence could be affected on issues regarding the

00:41election.

00:42The Supreme Court, of course, has a political bias towards the Republicans, but justice

00:46isn't supposed to be political, is it?

00:48It's supposed to be above the law.

00:49I can hear you all shout, and I applaud you for doing so.

00:52The fact is, though, there is this built-in Republican majority because Donald Trump was

00:56able to appoint three justices to the court.

00:59Monty Francis takes up the story.

01:04You have to go way back to the year 2000 when the Supreme Court stepped in to stop the recounting

01:09of votes in Florida, effectively handing the presidency to George W. Bush over his opponent

01:14Al Gore to find a time when the court played such a big part in presidential politics.

01:21The present court has a 6-3 conservative majority.

01:24With three justices nominated by Donald Trump, the court has issued a series of rulings that

01:29have reshaped the country.

01:31It is not a secret that President Trump picked a third of the current Supreme Court, and

01:36that has made a big difference, and it has really angered progressives and Democrats.

01:41But it's not just Democrats who disapprove.

01:44Opinion polls show the court is overwhelmingly out of step with the American public in general.

01:49It's approval rating at a near historic low, with just 43 percent of Americans in support

01:54of the job it's doing.

01:59That distaste for the court extends to some of its key rulings, including the decision

02:03in 2022 overturning Roe v. Wade and a federal right to an abortion, a ruling a vast majority

02:09of Americans disapprove of.

02:12Since that decision, abortionists become illegal or restricted in more than 20 states.

02:17More recently, in Trump v. The United States, the court ruled that the president has wide-ranging

02:22immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts, which could even include executing your

02:28political enemies.

02:30Dissenting Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the decision was a mockery and transformed a president

02:35into a king above the law.

02:38Always act appropriately.

02:40At least two of the justices have been under scrutiny for their behavior, and none more

02:45than Clarence Thomas.

02:46He refused to recuse himself from the immunity case involving former President Trump in spite

02:51of repeated efforts by his wife to lobby officials to overturn the results of the 2020 election,

02:57which Trump lost to Joe Biden.

03:00Thomas also accepted millions of dollars in gifts over two decades on the bench, most

03:05of which he didn't initially report until media reports surfaced.

03:09Justice Samuel Alito has faced criticism after photos surfaced of an upside-down American

03:14flag flying outside his home, a symbol associated with Trump's Stop the Steal movement, and

03:19a second flag associated with January 6 outside his vacation home.

03:24Late last year, the court announced it would subject itself to a new code of ethics, but

03:28the rules are non-binding, a sign the justices are intent on policing themselves.

03:35Justice is supposed to be independent and kind of separate of politics.

03:39That's what I've always been taught.

03:40Let's bring in Fraser, Jackson Fraser, of course our correspondent watching all developments

03:44for us in Washington.

03:45Fraser, I'm fascinated here.

03:47What happens if the U.S. Supreme Court has to make some kind of ruling about who wins

03:52the upcoming election?

03:54What happens?

03:55What happens?

03:56Tell us.

03:57Well, the Supreme Court was starting its first day today with about 40 cases on its docket.

04:02Some analysts say that's a rather light load, so they're clearly anticipating having to

04:06weigh in later down the line.

04:08The Supreme Court so far has been somewhat reticent to do so, but of course they have

04:12done on two occasions.

04:14They allowed Donald Trump to remain on the ballot during the primaries in places like

04:18Colorado, and they also did that immunity ruling, which said that a president has immunity

04:24for official acts undertaken during their time in office.

04:27Well, they now could also face some more action, both before and after the election.

04:34So they could get involved in disputes over ballot access measures, for example, or also

04:41vote counting rules.

04:42There's also something that could come into play after the election, a couple of different

04:46scenarios, but a lot of them are centering around these key swing states, which will

04:49decide the election.

04:51In Pennsylvania, for example, there's a dispute over mail-in ballots and what will disqualify

04:55a mail-in ballot, whether that's somebody failing to put their social security number

04:59on it or simply even putting the wrong date on their mail-in ballots.

05:03All of those could disqualify those mail-in ballots.

05:07And that is important because, of course, the mail-in ballots normally favor Democrats.

05:12Democrats tend to vote early and vote by mail, and the in-person, on-the-day vote tends to

05:16skew more Republican.

05:18So that is something that we are watching closely, which at the moment is still in the

05:21state's courts, but could land at SCOTUS' front door.

05:25We're also looking at things coming out of Georgia as well.

05:28The election board in that state is certainly Trump-friendly, and they've also come up with

05:35some questionable actions, which even some of the Republicans in the state are questioning.

05:40And some of the state's governor, for example, said that they could have gone too far.

05:45So those actions on whether they allow a hand count of the ballots on election day is also

05:51something that SCOTUS will be looking at.

05:54And then, ultimately, the main thing, really, is whether we're going to see a replay of

05:57the year 2000 and that Florida recount between Al Gore and George Bush, which, effectively,

06:03the stopping of that counting handed the election to George Bush and has been one of the most

06:07consequential and arguably controversial rulings by the Supreme Court in recent U.S. history.

06:14So a lot of sway that the U.S. Supreme Court could still have here, but the justices ultimately

06:21likely hoping that they can kind of stay out of this one and will see the election play

06:25out normally.

06:28It's interesting and disturbing.

06:29Fraser, thank you very much indeed for bringing your ray of sunshine onto that story, which

06:35could turn out to be quite bleak because one always believed that justice was beyond the

06:40political realm.

06:41But there we go.

06:42It seems in the U.S. there is a gray area between the two.

06:45We will continue to bring you all aspects of the U.S. presidential election as it develops.

06:49Vote today, of course, November the 5th.

06:56That's it for me.

06:57Short break.

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