Conservative Activism Grips Our Supreme Court
Observer
PostPosted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 4:51 am Post subject: Conservative
Activism Grips Our Supreme Court
Conservative Activism Grips Our Supreme Court
By Bill Scher
June 25, 2007
Way too many folks rolled over when John Roberts and Sam Alito were
nominated for the Supreme Court. And now we're seeing the consequences.
In my recent book, I charcaterized the conservative judicial activist
agenda as "elitist government", no longer representative of and
responsible to the people, handcuffed from insisting upon responsible
behavior, but free to subject all Americans to one group's version of
morality.
And today, we're seeing that vision in all its glory.
The conservative activists on the Supreme Court decreed in a series of
5-4 decisions:
* Individuals, who believe their tax dollars are being
unconstitutionally misused by the White House to promote religious
beliefs, aren't allowed to enter a courthouse.
*The Environmental Protection Agency can avoid its responsiblities
under the Endangered Species Act, even though its a law reflecting the
public will as paased by the democratically-elected congress.
* Corporations can once again use their checkbooks to flood the public
airwaves with political ads during elections season, again overruling
congress.
It's critical to recognize these decisions--along with earlier
decisions to end privacy between a woman and her doctor, and to make
it harder to challenge pay discrimination--are part of a pattern.
Bacause the battle for the Supreme Court is not over, as Justice
Kennedy remains a swing vote, conservative activists do not have
complete control. Yet.
Roberts and Alito were able to get on the Court because of their
dishonest PR operations went largely unchallenged. Roberts was
christened "brilliant" and lauded as lover of grammar. Alito was
heralded as an "open-minded"judge who loves baseball and his mom.
All that was meaningless fluff intended to mask their conservative agenda.
We must remember how these nominees were misrepresented so they could
get confirmed.
We must catalog the damage they did after being confirmed.
We must crystallize what the conservative activists are trying to
achieve, and how it undermines what our founders wanted our judiciary
to do.
If we do all that, the next time a conservative activist is being sold
to the public, we can insist on proof that the nominee will uphold
constitutional principles with elitist government.
And if we don't get any proof, we can reject that nominee on their
merits--that we cannot risk granting another lifetime appointment to
someone who will not protect our constitution and our democracy.
http://www.liberaloasis.com/2007/06/conservative_activism_grips_ou.php
Supreme Court Swerves Hard Right
The 2007 term of the U.S. Supreme Court ended today with a 5-4 ruling
severely limiting the ability of school districts to achieve racial
diversity in public schools. Identical 5-4 majorities in this term
also ruled against a woman seeking restitution for unlawful pay
discrimination, taxpayers challenging unconstitutional government
support of religion, and reproductive freedom. The same five justices
in those majorities also voted to curtail free speech rights of
students in public schools.
People for the American Way Foundation President Ralph G. Neas issued
the following statement:
"Under Chief Justice Roberts, the Court has turned sharply to the
right, and far out of the mainstream of American thought. Rights and
freedoms Americans take for granted stand in peril, and the progress
that we have made in social justice over the past 70 years is at risk.
"In just their first term together, a new right-wing bloc on the Court
has signaled that it is willing to rollback reproductive choice for
women, curb free expression, favor corporations over workers in
discrimination cases, limit access to the Courts for ordinary
Americans, and start to tear down the wall between church and state
that protects religious liberty for all Americans."
"While Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito gave lip service to
respect for the established rulings of the Court in their confirmation
hearings, they have not hesitated to tear down or undermine long-held
rulings. This Court has shown the same respect for precedent that a
wrecking ball shows for a plate glass window."
"Justice Anthony Kennedy, considered by many to be the "swing vote" on
the Court, has demonstrated in case after case this term that he is
more willing to join his four ultraconservative colleagues--Chief
Justice Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and
Antonin Scalia--to undermine Americans' rights and protections.
Justice Kennedy's increasing willingness to side with the right-wing
bloc will produce an even more reliable five justice majority that
will continue to do damage. Future elections will gove voters the
ability to restore balance to the Court. I hope all Americans will
take that responsibility seriously."
http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/default.aspx?oid=24286
In one full term, this Court has severely curbed local efforts to
promote racial diversity, upheld a right-wing ban on an necessary
medical procedure for women, curbed students' free speech rights,
crippled Congress' ability to keep corporate money out of political
advertising, prevented taxpayers from challenging the
constitutionality of Bush's faith-based initiatives, made it almost
impossible for women to prevail on claims of longterm sex
discrimination, striking down an anti-trust rule nearly a century old
in favor of big business, and ruling that the Federal Government can
avoid its responsiblities to protect endangered species despite the
Environmental Protection Act passed by Congress.
This list of outrageous, destructive, turn-back-the-clock hostile to
social progress, civil liberties, civil rights, individual rights,
favoring Bush and big government and corporations were all 5-4
decisions by conservative activist Judges Roberts, Alito, Scalia,
Thomas, and Kennedy. From this pattern, it is obvious they have an
agenda to undermine. Their resume of damage they're doing so far is
horrific and every American should be disgusted and very alarmed.
_________________
Hate Is Not A Family Value
Celebrate Diversity
Better A Bleeding Heart Than None At All
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You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
HRSepCnS · Historical Reality SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
***************************************************************
.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
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USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
*****************************************************************
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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