From what I can tell, a lot of conservatives are at least slightly uncomfortable about the Supreme Court overturning state laws and the incorporation doctrine. I don’t think there is enough pushback against this attitude. That’s probably because so mamy people get wrapped up in issues like health care and several categories of policies that have to do with commerce. It all goes back to conservative opposition to the Warren Court, which is what we have to thank for our civil libertarian jurisprudence.
I remember how Ron Paul was opposed to the incorporation doctrine and wanted to pass legislation to strip federal courts of jurisdiction to hear cases involving challenges to state laws over things like school prayer, abortion, privacy, and expression. Only one person covered this in the news! The rest of the coverage was about the implications of his stances on commercial regulation and welfare, but his radical anti-incorporation stance would have been far more destructive because it would’ve rolled back many protections of civil liberty and civil rights.
This issue, of the opposition to state laws getting struck down by the Supreme Court, doesn’t get enough attention and it should get constant attention. The issues of healthcare reform are ephemeral, but issues of civil liberty are eternal.
I don’t know if a Trump court would be damaging enough on this front to pose an immediate threat, but I think it would more damaging than past Supreme Courts. People who support the application of the Bill of Rights to the states need to unabashed supporters of it. They can’t be apathetic or ambivalent on this topic.
