Santa Monica should thank Trumps Supreme Court for saving its democracy

California Democrats should thank the conservative Supreme Court.It’s the only reason they can still govern anything at all.Sure, Democrats have promised to destroy the Court as we know it if they win the presidency. They plan to pack — ahem, “expand” — the Court by adding at least four seats and filling the vacancies with left-wing activists.  The biggest news, opinion and culture shaping California right now.

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Never miss a story Governor Gavin Newsom says he’s “open” to the idea.Senator Adam Schiff is all-in.For now, with control of the Senate for the foreseeable future, Democrats can also block conservatives from being appointed to the Court by a Republican president.But while Democrats decry the 6-3 conservative majority, largely because of decisions like Dobbs, which sent abortion policy back to the states, the fact is that the conservative justices have been the adults in the room who have protected Democrats from their own worst tendencies.Take, for example, a case decided this week in LA County Superior Court.Judge Daniel M.

Crowley tossed out a ridiculous lawsuit that has been running for a decade against the City of Santa Monica.The suit was brought by left-wing Malibu attorney Kevin Shenkman, who has made a career out of suing cities to force them to change their city council systems.Shenkman has used — or abused — the California Voting Rights Act to force towns all over the state to move from a traditional at-large system, where all of the residents decide on each seat, to a district-based system.The argument he makes is that minority candidates are denied a chance to compete under an at-large system.The assumption he makes is that a white majority — no matter how “progressive” — will rarely give a non-white candidate a fair chance. Even if white voters have no intent to ...