On November 4, 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected president, setting in motion a number of trends that continue to harm our country today.

Reagan and his ideological followers set out to delegitimize efforts to use our elected government to benefit the common good, to accomplish things that the market cannot do effectively or fairly, and to correct for the massive imbalance in power between large corporations and lone individuals.  Two specific actions he took continue to have a direct and devastating impact on our nation today: his selection of Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy as Supreme Court justices.

Scalia and Kennedy are part of the narrow 5-4 majority that has decimated Americans’ ability to limit money in politics, empowered the disenfranchisement of targeted Americans, severely weakened our nation’s anti-discrimination laws, and found ways to prevent everyday Americans from having their day in court.  Reagan may have been elected 35 years ago, but his chosen Supreme Court justices continue to make the difference in narrowly-decided cases involving any number of issues … money and politics, civil and voting rights, reproductive freedom and women’s rights, religious liberty, and so many more.

With the Court divided 5-4 in favor of the far-right conservatives on so many issues, the fact that four of the justices will be in their 80s by the end of the next president’s first term becomes enormously important.  Presidential candidates in both parties have made it clear what kind of justices they would place on the Court.  If a Republican wins the White House next year, the Supreme Court’s sharp and damaging rightward shift of the past ten years will continue and likely become even worse.  In contrast, a Democratic president’s chosen justices would likely restore a fairer and more balanced court, one that no longer bends the law and ignores logic in order to favor corporate and wealthy interests and undermine our country’s democracy.

Anyone seeking examples of just what a difference one justice can make on any number of issues need look no farther than People For the American Way’s Judgment Day 2016 report.

It’s a chilling summary of just how many rights and liberties have been eroded by the conservative 5-4 majority of the Roberts-Alito Court.  And each of those decisions was made possible by the two justices nominated by the president elected 35 years ago today.