Yesterday Pat made an interesting comment on my post A Step Backward.
In a Constitutional Republic these issues rest first with Congress and then with the courts... In due time change will come and it will be better if it comes with the force of law rather than the opinion of a governmental administrative fiat.
Pat makes a very good point and in theory I agree. However there needs to be a balance.
Almost 10 years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 the US Supreme Court in the 1954 landmark decision "Brown v. Board of Education Topeka" declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. In the rehearing of the case in the fall 1953, special attention was given to the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.
In his reading of the unanimous decision, Chief Justice Warren noted the adverse psychological effects that segregated schools had on African American children. Source Wikipedia
There are times when the courts must be in front of legislators, whose only clear motivation is re-election. This is why reasonable judges are so important. The judges that Trump is appointing could well be his lasting legacy - and not a pretty one at that. Read on:
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Trump Is Filling Court Seats With Anti-LGBTQ, Anti-Abortion Judges
From The Huffpost - By Jennifer Bendery
WASHINGTON ― Thursday (October 5) was a good day for Amy Coney Barrett. A Senate committee voted to advance her nomination to be a federal judge.
It wasn’t a pretty vote. Every Democrat on the Judiciary Committee opposed her nomination. They scrutinized her past writings on abortion, which include her questioning the precedent of Roe v. Wade and condemning the birth control benefit under the Affordable Care Act as “a grave infringement on religious liberty.” One Democrat, Al Franken (Minn.), called her out for taking a speaking fee from the Alliance Defending Freedom, a nonprofit that’s defended forced sterilization for transgender people and has been dubbed a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
But Republicans don’t need Democrats’ votes, and now Barrett, a 45-year-old law professor at the University of Notre Dame, is all but certain to be confirmed to a lifetime post on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit — a court one level below the Supreme Court.
Barrett is the model judicial candidate for this White House: a young conservative opposed to abortion and LGBTQ rights. For all the stories about President Donald Trump using his executive power to roll back civil rights protections — in the past day, his administration axed the ACA birth control benefit and ended workplace protections for transgender people — it is here, on the courts, where his team is working most aggressively to reshape the country.
“Trump’s speed in nominating judges has been perhaps the most successful aspect of his presidency,” said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond who specializes in judicial nominations. “Trump has easily surpassed Obama, Bush and Clinton at this point in the first year of their presidencies in terms of the sheer number nominated.”
I agree - Trump's worst legacy could be his court appointments. But I don't think Pence would be much better. This is why the Democrats have to get into position to stall any and all appointments until they are in power again - if only to reintroduce sanity into the system.
ReplyDeleteWe can't do much about people such as Roy Moore. But we can prevent them from gaining too much power. America, as a whole, tends to be a "Center-Right" nation. But this lurch to the hard right we've seen over the past few years will eventually be balanced by a lurch to the hard left. The harder the right wing tries to prevent this from happening, the worse it will be for the right when it does happen.
The only times that the courts are ahead of the politicians is when doing the right thing could cause them to be voted out of office by a small minority. Recognizing the civil rights of Blacks was a perfect example of this. It took a long series of court verdicts to establish the groundwork for "Brown vs. Board of Education." Sadly, the wingnuts on the right recognize this, and are trying to use the courts to prevent other civil rights from being recognized. At least, we are aware of the problem. And that's the first step towards dealing with it successfully.
Marian, Thank you so much for your comment.
DeleteThere have been a lot of judges nominated because so few have been confirmed. THe number of vacancies on the Federal bench has increased close to 30% since Trump took office. Obama had 8 years to fill seats and he populated the bench with the most left wing anti-constitutionalists he could find. What has taken place is that we are now in an age of uncertainty with judge created laws and rules. Most of the work done by judges on these courts have little to do with abortion or LGBT rights. Most cases are simple criminal and civil cases that involve individual litigants. In some courts the delays in getting cases moved along are horrendous. Justice delayed is often justice denied.
ReplyDeleteIn 2016 the population voted against the left wing socialist programs of the past 8 years. It seems that what Trump is trying to do is to deliver on his promises.
I still think it is hard to push on a string. I happen to like and respect you and your writings even if I do not agree with all of your views. I do not want or need the government to tell me who to like and what to believe. I find that what appears in the Huff Post is rarely newsworthy but is often a means of advancing their agenda.
For the sake of people and litigants whose cases are sitting in limbo someone should tell Schumer to do his job. If there is a problem or deficit with a candidate vote them down but other than that if the person is qualified it is the duty of the executive to nominate them to fill these seats and for theme to be appointed with the 'advice and consent' of the Senate.
Pat
Pat, thanks again for you comment. I consider it an honor when comment and always appreciate your point of view. Please do comment any time...
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