Kagan says Supreme Court rulings undermine democracy

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan said on Oct. 20, 2026, two weeks before the Nov. 3 midterms, that the court has kind of blinded itself to the very deleterious effects of their rulings on how the political system works and has created a democracy that does not work as well as it should. She spoke at Catholic University's law school in Washington, D.C., with questioning by Joel Alicea. She dissented from the 2019 ruling that federal courts cannot police partisan gerrymandering, this year's narrowing of the Voting Rights Act, and a June ruling curbing limits on coordination between parties and candidates. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority. Texas redrew congressional maps at Trump's urging, followed by other states including California. CONTESTED: Kagan said both parties have engaged in a race to the bottom on partisan gerrymanders, making a too polarized country even more so. On a ruling giving Trump greater control over independent federal agencies, she said the danger is it allows the president to ride roughshod over all the institutions of government. She also said it is unfair to say the majority reflexively supports the president and pointed to rulings against him on tariffs, birthright citizenship, National Guard deployment to Chicago, and mail-in voting restrictions. She said that is why the president sometimes really has not very nice things to say about the court's decisions and some of her colleagues. She said the court had a kind of legitimacy, and when the court has a legitimacy of that kind it helps to create a stable country. No right-rated coverage was found.