Do Not Expect SCOTUS to Save You from Poor Electoral Decisions
The United States Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, is the final stop for issues pertaining to constitutionality. Originally instituted by our founding fathers as a balancing scale for the Legislative and Executive branches, the Court’s sole responsibility is to interpret the Constitution and ensure that laws do not overstep their bounds. However, over the years the Court, too, has become a place of politics—though to a lesser degree. This week is decision week, the week when the Court will hand down their verdicts on cases they heard this year before they retire for the summer. Invariably, the most contested decisions will come on the last day right before the session ends (as to avoid any press mayhem that may ensue).
Among the many issues that faced the Court this year, the major players included Presidential power, the First Amendment, and privacy laws. Though there are others, these three issues are at the heart of major decisions forthcoming. In Presidential powers, the Court will rule on such things as executive appointments without Congressional approval, the power of departments like the EPA to make regulations, and religious freedom vs. government mandates in the case of Hobby Lobby vs. Sebelius. The Hobby Lobby case also falls under the First Amendment, as does a case in which Massachusetts limits the ability to demonstrate outside abortion clinics. Last but not least is a case where the Court will decide if searching cellphones requires a warrant.
Politically, the Court is supposed to be neutral. Looking at it from the Presidential appointment perspective the Court would tend to lean conservative given that five Justices, including the Chief Justice, were appointed by Republicans, as opposed to four by a Democrat. However, as evidence by decisions the Court handed down in 2012 in regards to national health care and states’ rights (see Obamacare and AZ SB1070), they do not always lean as expected. If nothing else was learned from those two decisions, we should have learned that the Court will not save us from poor electoral choices.
Much like in 2012, this year many are eagerly anticipating the Court’s decisions and hoping that it will reign in an administration that wields executive power like no other. Unfortunately, if history is an indicator that will not happen. When the healthcare decision was handed down in 2012, Chief Justice Roberts basically told the American people that the Court was not responsible for bad electoral decisions. While the court upheld the healthcare law they left enough room for the American people to repeal it congressionally or executively, we failed. We (conservative leaning Americans) failed to articulate our message and lost the White House and the Senate, again. If the Court decides this year, much like it did in 2012, to let the administration have its way what will we do?
In 2010, a grassroots effort swept through the country and the conservative message resonated with Americans to the point that the midterm elections of that year were unprecedented. It can happen again, but we must work together not against one another. And our message must be clear and include solutions not just indictments. SCOTUS still has decisions to hand down, and I pray they make the right choice, but please do not sit back during election season and expect SCOTUS to step in later. Odds are, they won’t.
Photos courtesy of PBS.org.
