Sunday, May 31, 2009

The Supreme Court: It is not SUPPOSED to be Empathetic

The Supreme Court is not supposed to be an agenda-forwarding body. The Supreme Court is not a political toy. It is not supposed to be a body that determines the future of the nation based on personal feelings, experiences, backgrounds, ethnicities, or any other personal fiat.

The job...the duty...the responsibility of a Supreme Court justice is to interpret the law as it applies to the Constitution. The Supreme Court is not a higher power than the Executive or Legislative branches of the federal government. No branch of government is supposed to answer to or beholden to the whims of nine people on the bench of the highest court in the land.

Supreme Court justices are supposed to be impartial to each case they hear. They are to take themselves out of the case and judge each case on its own merits, and apply applicable laws to the case. The laws from which they are to draw are supposed to be exclusively from the Constitution of the United States.

For the last century or so, the Supreme Court has veered far, far left of center and has led the way for activists to enact change in the United States, and, in the process, has usurped the powers of the legislative and executive branches of the federal government.

With the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, Obama has opened a Pandora's Box of issues with this Judge's idea of her responsibilities. As I am sure you have heard, Sotomayor made some questionable remarks about ethnicity and ability to judge cases.

First, I agree with the arguement that had the roles been reversed, no matter what the context, and a white male had said his experiences allow for wiser decisions that a Latin-American woman, he would be vilified until he would have to step down from any bench he could concievably sit upon. That man would no longer be able to touch a gavel in a United States court. A white man saying he is better at anything than a woman, minority, or a minority woman would lose everything he has ever worked for because he would be labeled, attacked, and crucified in the media and by even his closest political allies. Sotomayor, like any minority, gets a pass because white males have no rights and no protections from racist or hate comments. Its true. White males are not protected. We have no protections, no right to get upset, no inclination to fight and complain when we are attacked and left out for no other reason than our gender and color.

I can get over that. It's the hip thing to down white guys nowadays. We are the political whipping boys anymore. Fine.

My real problem with the comments is that Sotomayor is telling us that she relies on her background to interpret the law. Not her studies. Not her familiarity with precedents and the verbage of the Constitution (you know, the document that is the basis upon which ALL Supreme Court decisions should be made). Instead, because she is a Latin American woman, she has the experiences to make judicial decisions.

So, getting back to the original points at the beginning of this rant. The job of a judge, regardless of level, whether it be the Tazewell County Courthouse in Virginia, or the 9th Circut Court in California, or the US Supreme Court, is to use the words and meanings of the Constitution of the United States.

Not the laws of England. Not the governing documents of France or Germany. Not the laws and precedents of courts in South America, Europe, or Asia.

The US Constitution, and then the individual states' Constitutions.

Nothing else.

Not empathy for individuals. Empathy is fine, but it should not determine justice. Lady justice is blindfolded for a reason. She does not have one eye exposed to look down mercifully upon a purposed victim. Lady Justice weighs the evidence and the rule of law. That's it.

It is all well and good to show pity, empathy, and compassion on an individual basis. In fact, I encourage it. I think that it is truly American to help those in need when possible. I do not think it is the job of a Supreme Court justice to show caring and concern with their binding decisions on the court.

And neither did the framers.

About Me...And This Blog Site...

My name is David A. Ebert, the oldest of two siblings produced by my parents, Leah and David G. Ebert. We are all Republicans, but I take it a toke or two...well, closer to 10 tokes...further than my parents,

I am very much a Right Wing Conservative. I am a Reagan Conservative. I believe Americans, in general, are smarter than elected officials in Washington, DC. We should be more in charge than the Government.

We, as individuals and families, should have more responsibility over our own, hard-earned money and not send more and more and more taxes to the out-of-touch politicians. I believe the government is there to serve us, and not us to serve them.

I believe in America's greatness and that, overall, we are the most generous, forgiving, intelligent, and genuinely decent country in the world. I also believe that we are the most powerful nation in the history of the world, but do not use that power to hold over the collective heads of other nations.

I believe that low taxes, intelligent spending of those tax revenues, strong initiatives on defense and education, and small government influence on the day-to-day lives of Americans are some of the most important ideals related to how the US should be operated.I believe in the freedoms granted by the US Constitution. I believe that judges should uphold and interpret the laws as written in the US Constitution, and not refer to any foreign legislation to make their historic decisions.

I believe the First Amendment, as well as the entire Bill of Rights, are the most important laws this world has ever seen.

I believe abortion is WRONG. I believe that homosexuality is WRONG. I believe that allowing anyone to publicly debate the possibility of lowering the age of consent, especially for young boys to consent to older men, is a tragedy of morality. I believe that organizations like NAMBLA should be publicly shunned and not given a platform to spew their harmful and dangerous rhetoric.

I believe there is a sad lacking in the ability of our nation to appreciate and accept self responsibility. We, as a nation, blame daddy, racism, sexism, classism, mommy, the mean teacher, the mean little league coach, the loud mouthed uncle, the financial status of the neighborhood in which we grew up in, and a million and one other reasons why we do not succeed. How often do we, as a nation, take the blame for our own mistakes? How often do you hear someone accept responsibility for their own mistakes? How often?

I am conservative. I am worried about the future of the country and the planet, especially if O-BOMB-A or Billary Clinton make it to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. I will start posting my fears, my hopes, my ideas as they all relate to news and politics. I hope to open some eyes and change some opinions with my writings. Most of all, I hope you will read my words and be inspired to find the truth...and not rely on Chris Matthews or Keith Olberman or Katie Couric or Matt Lauer for your opinions. I hope you will break the mold and do something unreal...unexpected...do something that O-BOMB-A and Billary are afraid of you doing...

THINK FOR YOURSELF.

Cross Referencing My Blogs