With Samuel Alito replacing Sandra Day O'Connor last year, the Supreme Court's right wing is a solid four person block, and this term Justice Kennedy has lined up with them in most of the key cases. It's bad news, including today for equality and opportunity in education.
Thanks again to all the students who stood with us to speak out against the nominations of the smiling, All-American ideologue John Roberts and the most right wing federal judge in America, Samuel Alito.
About the only campaign promise that President Bush kept was to appoint Justices in the mold of Scalia and Thomas, and a range of conservatives who now have split with Bush on other issues continue to praise the Roberts and Alito confirmations as a key accomplishment by the administration.
Progressives, and other supporters of a reasonable interpretation of the Constitution and laws of the United States, have a lot of work to do. They need to persuade elites about the bankruptcy of the right wing vision of the law. They also need to persuade the public on the controversial hot-button issues that underlie critical Supreme Court decisions -- issues like free speech, government surveillance, detention of alleged terrorists, criminal justice, tort lawsuits, and discrimination/ affirmative action. Until the public sees that a right wing Supreme Court is undermining their values and interests in the day to day world, voters won't see Supreme Court appointments as an election issue, nomination battles will continue to favor the conservatives, and the right wing extremist block may grow even bigger.
--In case you are planning to stay in DC for a few more days after the Campus Progress conference, you should come and check out the Starvin' for Justice 2007 in front of the SCOTUS.
The 14th Annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty at the U.S. Supreme Court June 29th - July 2nd, 2007 A four day vigil maintaining a presence at SCOTUS, the Supreme Court Of The United States. Some of the participants fast during this time, but fasting is not required. We encounter thousands of visitors to the Court and share our message that no matter how you slice it, the death penalty is BAD PUBLIC POLICY. Much of the time is spent talking to individuals and creating visibilty. Several larger events are held at key times during the event to highlight specific concerns, with a series of speakers each evening to educate, enlighten and entertain… Click Here to see pictures and more info on what goes on during the Fast & Vigil!
If college kids are going to talk about one Supreme Court decision today, it will most likely be the Bong Hits 4 Jesus case. But the justices issued another important decision on a case involving free speech, practically striking down an essential part of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law.
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