Parting Shots
Peter Baldwin
Issue date: 12/10/01 Section: Opinions
Those dead white guys who led the revolt against the British recognized that citizens, like kings, queens and emperors, could be tyrannical, intolerant, and bloodthirsty. Those of you who have seen Gladiator know what I'm talking about when I say bloodthirsty. The mob is no more just than the monarch. Over the past 150 years, many Americans (perhaps even a majority), have supported such friendly policies as slavery and segregation, mass discrimination against German-Americans during WW I, and internment of Japanese-Americans during WW II.
The Founders created checks and balances on so-called democracy for good reasons. These checks and balances make it more difficult to aggregate and abuse power. One main obstacle to abuse of power by the President (more like emperor, judging from the actions of GW Bush) and the mob (or their duly designated representatives, whom we call, collectively, Congress) is the judicial branch.
The judicial branch in general, and the US Supreme Court in particular, mistake-prone though it may be, occasionally do the right thing. By design, it is a counter-majoritarian institution, designed to protect minorities and preserve the rule of law, deliberately not subject to the whims of the masses, the polls, or the pols. Its job is to decide legal controversies on the basis of the law of the land (the Constitution - I'm sure you've heard of it). It's a key part of a society built upon the rule of law, and, every once in a while, teaches the rest of us that something is wrong - that might does not make right.
I'm sure you know that, for much of its history, America (and its educational system) was racially segregated. Well, in 1954, in what I'd term one of the most courageous acts in American history, in the face of tremendous popular pressure in the other direction, the Earl Warren-led US Supreme Court decided, 9-0, that segregation - separate but equal education, in particular - violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. The legislative branch followed up a decade later with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but it was the Supreme Court, returning to the first principles of the country ("all [men] are created equal"), that did the right thing and moved the country forward.
The Founders created checks and balances on so-called democracy for good reasons. These checks and balances make it more difficult to aggregate and abuse power. One main obstacle to abuse of power by the President (more like emperor, judging from the actions of GW Bush) and the mob (or their duly designated representatives, whom we call, collectively, Congress) is the judicial branch.
The judicial branch in general, and the US Supreme Court in particular, mistake-prone though it may be, occasionally do the right thing. By design, it is a counter-majoritarian institution, designed to protect minorities and preserve the rule of law, deliberately not subject to the whims of the masses, the polls, or the pols. Its job is to decide legal controversies on the basis of the law of the land (the Constitution - I'm sure you've heard of it). It's a key part of a society built upon the rule of law, and, every once in a while, teaches the rest of us that something is wrong - that might does not make right.
I'm sure you know that, for much of its history, America (and its educational system) was racially segregated. Well, in 1954, in what I'd term one of the most courageous acts in American history, in the face of tremendous popular pressure in the other direction, the Earl Warren-led US Supreme Court decided, 9-0, that segregation - separate but equal education, in particular - violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. The legislative branch followed up a decade later with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but it was the Supreme Court, returning to the first principles of the country ("all [men] are created equal"), that did the right thing and moved the country forward.
