No Twitter Users, SCOTUSblog is not the Supreme Court

By Kevin Rizzo | June 28, 2016

The Supreme Court handed down several major rulings yesterday and, as is the case whenever the court decides to weigh in on a social issue, a lot of people got really mad. While watching people get angry on social media is always good fun on its own, this time, there was an added level of entertainment as people tweeted their dissatisfaction at SCOTUSblog’s twitter account, thinking that it was the actual Supreme Court.

SCOTUSblog, a website dedicated to tracking all things related to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), is not, in fact, operated by or in any way affiliated with the actual Supreme Court. But that doesn’t stop the flood of angry Twitter mentions that it receives at the end of each court term. In fact, its Twitter bio features a nice disclaimer, “A private blog. NOT THE JUSTICES OR THE COURT.” Thankfully, its Twitter account sets aside some time on each of these special nights to respond to many of the mistaken Twitter users.

On Monday afternoon, it started off with a warning to its current followers (who are presumably aware that it is not the actual Supreme Court) as well as some satire to set the scene:

You have one minute to unfollow us before we fill your Twitter feed.

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016

#BREAKING: facing constitutional crisis, in an unprecedented move, a blog was named to the empty ninth seat on the Supreme Court.

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016

And then it began. Here’s a collection of some of the best responses from yesterday:

We don’t rule “against the Constitution.” We twist it however we want. MT @pswise1 @SCOTUSblog Is RACIST &Again Rules Against Constitution

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016

So funny bc we’re just flipping coins. Math says we’ll eventually get one right MT @somhrd50 @SCOTUSblog always on the wrong side of history

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016

No! Expose who killed Vince Foster, indict Clinton, THEN impeach him. MT @hendog127@SCOTUSblog -Your first OBLIGATION IS TO IMPEACH OBAMA

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016

Here’s someone calling SCOTUSblog dumb (while at the same time confusing SCOTUSblog for the actual Supreme Court):

What makes you look dumbest, Bets’? MT @BetsyKerr Nothing makes @SCOTUSblog look dumber than a judge dissenting w/irrelevant opinion.

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016

I’ll let you unpack this one:

Keep it? Most men will prolly oblige. #nadaforzada MT @zadabee @SCOTUSblog Stop killing sperm! Man controls the sperm: KEEP IT~

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016

Here’s a nice reference to SCOTUSblog’s Twitter bio, which pretty clearly states that it is not affiliated with the actual court. But hey, who takes the time to read Twitter bios before angry tweeting?

Twitter descriptions are good reads too MT @carryabigstaff @SCOTUSblog If you read the Constitution, you know there is no right to privacy.

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016

Not all of the tweets were angry–some were happy with the court’s decision to strike down provisions in Texas’s HB 2, a law that placed what the court deemed to be undue restrictions on abortion providers.

Honestly, we were 5-3 on selling you to @zombieblog. MT @slclaridge Thanks @SCOTUSblog for continuing to let ME have control over MY body.

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016

To cap it off, SCOTUSblog ended up trolling unknowing Twitter users so well that Twitter actually suspended its account thinking that it was hacked. The blog posted an update explaining what happened and after a couple of hours, everything was back to normal: it returned to tweeting serious court news. Apparently the annual “running of the trolls” worked too well this time around.