No matter what the Court does next [regarding whether Mr. Trump can appear on the ballot], its popular legitimacy will be sorely tested. Tens of millions of Americans are going to believe that it got the answer wrong, and that the result of the 2024 election is at best unfair because of it. Punting will only make already bad matters for American constitutional democracy worse. For there is no legitimacy, or democratic stability, in governing institutions that do nothing but race to see who can avoid taking responsibility for the hardest issues for the longest time. And basing decision making not on facts or law but on, as some have counseled in this case, fear of arbitrary violence is anathema to a rule-of-law system.

— The Supreme Court Shouldn’t Punt on This One, The Atlantic


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