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Lee's Summit, MO —
I have written in the past lamenting the demise and prestige of this nation’s third pillar of democracy – the Supreme Court.
The highest court in the land will soon render a decision on all, or sections of, President Obama’s Affordable Health Care Law amid word that the Court’s favorability is at an all-time low.
A New York Times/CBS News poll revealed that of its 1,009 responders only 44 percent approve of the way that the Supreme Court is performing while 36 percent disapprove and 20 percent have no opinion. Further, three-quarters say the justices are somewhat influenced by their personal or political views.
Various polls show that at least 60 percent of the public has changed their mind about appointing Supreme Court justices for life. The main response is that it is a precarious thing, for it gives too much power to only nine people. Yet, one-third agreed that life tenure is beneficial, for it prevents political pressure and keeps them independent.
To that one-third I would say, “That’s what I thought, but after researching the decisions of the Court in the past 12 years, I say – the evidence proves otherwise.”
One need not go any farther than that controversial Citizens United decision favoring corporations and big money. I will let E.J. Dionne Jr. of the Washington Post, speak for me. He recently wrote, “It will go down as one of the most naive decisions ever rendered by the court. [...] A more troubling interpretation is that a conservative majority knew exactly what it was doing: that it set out to remake our political system by fiat in order to strengthen the hand of corporations and the wealthy.”
Retired Justice John Paul Stevens, who wrote a dissent in the 2010 case, has publicly stated that he expects the court may change its mind and review that Citizens United decision, citing two previous court decisions involving free speech by terrorist groups and campaign spending by foreigners.
In the meantime, those nine defenders of the Constitution, our third arm of Democracy, must deal with new polls that show its favorability numbers have fallen to a 25-year low of 52 percent. Consider that the court was once held in high-esteem in the late 1980s at 66 percent and as high as 80 percent in 1994.
How times have changed.
I give you President John Adams’ toast: Independence forever.
I have written in the past lamenting the demise and prestige of this nation’s third pillar of democracy – the Supreme Court.
The highest court in the land will soon render a decision on all, or sections of, President Obama’s Affordable Health Care Law amid word that the Court’s favorability is at an all-time low.
A New York Times/CBS News poll revealed that of its 1,009 responders only 44 percent approve of the way that the Supreme Court is performing while 36 percent disapprove and 20 percent have no opinion. Further, three-quarters say the justices are somewhat influenced by their personal or political views.
Various polls show that at least 60 percent of the public has changed their mind about appointing Supreme Court justices for life. The main response is that it is a precarious thing, for it gives too much power to only nine people. Yet, one-third agreed that life tenure is beneficial, for it prevents political pressure and keeps them independent.
To that one-third I would say, “That’s what I thought, but after researching the decisions of the Court in the past 12 years, I say – the evidence proves otherwise.”
One need not go any farther than that controversial Citizens United decision favoring corporations and big money. I will let E.J. Dionne Jr. of the Washington Post, speak for me. He recently wrote, “It will go down as one of the most naive decisions ever rendered by the court. [...] A more troubling interpretation is that a conservative majority knew exactly what it was doing: that it set out to remake our political system by fiat in order to strengthen the hand of corporations and the wealthy.”
Retired Justice John Paul Stevens, who wrote a dissent in the 2010 case, has publicly stated that he expects the court may change its mind and review that Citizens United decision, citing two previous court decisions involving free speech by terrorist groups and campaign spending by foreigners.
In the meantime, those nine defenders of the Constitution, our third arm of Democracy, must deal with new polls that show its favorability numbers have fallen to a 25-year low of 52 percent. Consider that the court was once held in high-esteem in the late 1980s at 66 percent and as high as 80 percent in 1994.
How times have changed.
I give you President John Adams’ toast: Independence forever.
