WASHINGTON, D.C. – Since June, the Supreme Court and lower federal courts have issued major rulings that advance the ability of the State to oppress the masses, including a ruling that there is no constitutional right to clean water, a ruling allowing expanded spending on political campaigns by the bourgeoisie, and a ruling allowing a militarization project in the nation’s capital.
Constitutional right to clean water (Sterling v. City of Jackson)
For decades, residents of Jackson, Mississippi, have been subject to systemic failures in access to clean water. In Jackson, water pipe repairs are nine times higher than the national average. In 2013, a plan for repairing the water system was released, itself an update of a plan first created in 1997, but the plan has failed to be implemented. The water system was extremely outdated, with some parts based on unlined iron pipes installed more than a century ago. Many pipes are too small to meet the water needs of the city’s modern population.
Also in 2013, the city government formed a contract with Siemens to install new water meters and modernize the utility’s billing system. The project was completed five years later but was deemed a complete failure, resulting in a lawsuit against Siemens alleging fraud.
Historically, many non-national minority residents and businesses left Jackson once desegregation was underway. With oppression of the Black/New Afrikan nation continuing to this day, the reactionary State leadership of Mississippi has been hesitant to provide assistance to Jackson, where 80% of residents are Black/New Afrikan.
Cold weather in February 2021 caused a catastrophic failure of the water system, leading to a long period with no access to water and a longer period during which the water being delivered was unsafe to drink. In 2022, the NAACP filed a complaint against the State government, accusing officials of diverting funds meant for Jackson’s water system to non-national minority communities. Water utility costs were raised in 2024 and 2025 despite the issues remaining unresolved. Overall, failures at all levels of government have left the residents of Jackson deprived of a necessity of life.
The Sterling case was filed in 2022 by residents against the city government and concerned widespread lead contamination in the city and residents being wrongfully told that the water supply was safe. The decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals establishes that there is no constitutional right to access free water or truthful information from public officials in times of crisis. The decision failed to address the “state created danger” described in the suit, referring to a doctrine that allows State actors to be held accountable when they knowingly place citizens in danger. An appeal of this case to the Supreme Court is expected, and other lawsuits concerning Jackson’s water are still ongoing.
FCC political spending restrictions (National Republican Congressional Committee v. Brown)
In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that the FCC’s policy of applying “lowest unit charge” requirements to fundraising committees and political parties engaging in coordinated spending for elections could be upheld.
The “lowest unit charge” involves advertising prices for political candidates. Under federal law, political candidates receive discounted advertising rates from broadcast stations during election seasons. In March 2026, the FCC reinterpreted federal law to extend such discounted rates to political party committees engaged in coordinated spending and to joint fundraising committees. This decision allowed super PACs to exploit the lowest unit charge, and with the June decision allowing super PACs to participate in joint fundraising committees with candidates, these groups can now run campaigns that appear to be campaigns by specific candidates and receive discounts on these campaigns that were previously granted only to candidates. The Supreme Court’s decision last month allows for further influence over bourgeois elections by monopoly capital.
White House expansion construction (National Park Service v. National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States)
In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that construction of Trump’s White House expansion could continue. The construction was challenged by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which the Supreme Court found had no standing, allowing construction to continue.
Trump first announced an expansion to the East Wing of the White House in July 2025 and stated that the expansion would not interfere with the existing wing. By December 2025, demolition of the former East Wing had been completed, and construction of the new section began. While most coverage in the monopoly media has focused on the ballroom section of the wing, Trump has said that the ballroom itself is “essentially … a shed for what’s being built under,” referring to a confidential, six story underground military complex replacing the former Presidential Emergency Operations Center.
The new military complex is part of a movement toward the militarization of the U.S. capital in Washington, D.C. Another aspect of the militarization of the capital is Trump’s planned “United States Triumphal Arch,” plans for which were initially revealed in October 2025 before facing delays because of multiple legal challenges. On Sept. 20, Trump announced that the arch would serve as a military complex, including ammunition storage and a site for deploying snipers and drones. The National Guard was deployed within D.C. in August 2025 with an initial force of 800 troops. The number has now grown to more than 4,700, and the deployment is slated to continue for the remainder of Trump’s term in office.
“Election Integrity” measures (Trump v. California)
In March, Trump issued an executive order, EO 14399, on “voting integrity,” including provisions for verifying voters’ citizenship and procedures restricting mailed ballots. This is part of Trump’s wider approach to the midterm elections, alongside a nationally broadcast address that made allegations of interference by China in the 2020 election and by former President Obama at some point in the past, propagating doubt about the security of the U.S. election system. Also in this address, he claimed that Nicolás Maduro was planning to cheat in Venezuela’s election, providing an after the fact justification for the U.S. operation that kidnapped and imprisoned him. Another component of this approach is Trump’s claim that every U.S. citizen will receive a $5,000 dividend if the Republican Party wins the upcoming midterm election.
The Supreme Court’s 6 to 3 decision allows some parts of the executive order to move forward, namely the creation of citizenship lists through the Department of Homeland Security and prioritization of the federal role in the investigation and prosecution of voter fraud, including withholding federal funds from states and localities where noncompliance with the executive order is perceived. Another case concerning the mailed ballot provisions of the executive order, brought by the League of Women Voters, is ongoing, so those provisions remain on hold because of an injunction in that case.
Taken together, this slate of rulings gives legal expression to the broader militarization and fascistization of the U.S. Old State, as the capitalist class strengthens the repressive powers of the State while stripping away even the limited democratic rights afforded to the masses under bourgeois democracy. These developments reflect a broader tendency toward surveillance, repression, coercion and centralized executive authority as the contradictions of U.S. Imperialism sharpen. The courts serve this process by granting legal legitimacy to measures that expand the power of monopoly capital and the repressive State while weakening protections against neglect, repression and military force. These rulings should therefore be understood as part of the general tendency of the U.S. Old State away from bourgeois democracy and toward fascism, making the organization of the masses around their immediate struggles and democratic rights an increasingly urgent necessity.
