We Will Get Fooled Again (April 30, 2007)
We did get fooled again. John Roberts, under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee, stated that he would be an impartial umpire calling balls and strikes at the plate. He mouthed support for the doctrine of stare decisis – the doctrine that when a court has once established a principle of law as applicable to a state of facts, the court will adhere to that principle and apply it in all future cases where the facts are substantially the same. He pined for stability in the law. Alito made the same representations. Under oath. They lied. It is the American way. The recent abortion case, Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 U.S. ___ (2007) is not substantively different than Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U.S. 914 (2000). An honest Supreme Court could have issued a one-page or even a one sentence decision citing the earlier precedent. Instead, Kennedy and kin disregard precedent, mistate the proper and settled legal standard of review, pat the little ladies condescendingly on the head, and do violence to truth and precedent. Another day at the office.
Bumper sticker of the week:
I’m Pro-Choice About Everything
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