Will this news and speculation about Souter's unpublished critique damage the Court? Not more than what the Court inflicts on itself frequently.
The decision two years ago to dismantle limitations on some political advocacy (Citizens United) has had drastic effects, as did Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade. Much of what the opponents feared is coming to pass, but maybe that's what freedom of speech looks like. The Supremes' decision isn't the all-wise/all-fair settlement we might wish for. Instead, it seems like an imperfect attempt at wisdom.
I've been hoping for the former and getting the latter, and have been horribly disappointed. But, really, I should remember the the Churchill quote that "democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms" and apply it to the Supreme Court.
Bolstering the mythology
Photo credit: brookskraft.com
1 comment:
I understand what you are saying, and SCOTUS has always been political so we can't be so surprised. When devised in the Constitution, it was meant to be an independent and final arbiter of cases brought to the courts. IT was only early decisions that set it's limits and its role as definers of the Constitution and the Constitutionality of laws passed the Legislature and signed by the Executive.
That's not a bad roll for them, all told, but they do not use that power as a scalpel, but many times as a bludgeon or not at all. But they are not elected and cannot be removed for life except by impeachment. That makes a majority on the court for a certain philosophy a committee-monarch, and the supporters of an existing or would-be SCOTUS ruling majority in the other branches know this. It is, by far, the easiest way to enforce one's ideology, at least until someone on the majority dies.
So when the court makes a politically-based or biased decision, the political establishment has virtually no recourse. To their credit, most SCOTUS decisions are narrow to minimize impact. Sometimes that's good for our country, and sometimes it's bad (such as allowing segregation for so long).
If SCOTUS justices were truly very wise and totally apolitical, they might fulfill a crucial role in our society. But I'm with most Americans in seeing that SCOTUS is as political as the other branches, and as prone to hypocrisy -- if not more so -- than any other politicians.
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