Supreme influence

So, Samuel Alito has broken a tie, and the U.S. Supreme Court has decided that the death penalty in Kansas stays. (story) And this was a unique case, since Kansas has a bizarre stipulation that a jury should choose death when the evidence for and against death is equal. Yes, they should choose death NOT just if death wins out in a pro-con argument, but as long as there's no inclination to choose one over the other. The challenge to the Kansas death penalty on the grounds that it was cruel and unusual punishment was shot down by Alito alone, and this will be the final decision. In case people thought liberals, such as myself, were overreacting when they worried about both Alito and John Roberts being named to the court...THIS is just part of the proof that we were justified to worry, that the court would swing in a new direction with the addition of two conservatives. And I'm sure there's much more to come. For who knows how many years.

Because that's the real issue here. The Kansas decision is just the very beginning. It is one indicator of the way things are going to be now. Alito's conservative influence was all that was needed for things to play out the way they did. This was a 5-4 decision. It's not only the liberals that have worried about the new Court since the appointments that should take serious notice of these developments. The important question now becomes whether this kind of close decision, with a narrow conservative win, will play out over and over again...and what very influential decisions might it affect?

All I know is that I, in my typical pessimistic way, am dreading the day that this court overturns Roe v. Wade. Because it might not just be hype. Who knows....though the chances of it still seem iffy to me, it might just happen one of these days. These are the kinds of things that America will need to question under the newly conservative Supreme Court. And I'm not looking forward to it.

It all makes me keenly aware of the process of appointing new Supreme Court justices. It seems to me that this process is rather flawed. The influence of the Court can definitely not be underemphasized. The Supreme Court is, without doubt, the most powerful entity that the country has. It has the final say over any issue...it can essentially overrule all branches of government. And I think this type of power is indeed necessary; after all, this power was needed to put a stop to the 2000 Presidential election fiasco. However, when the Court has this much power, it would seem that there should be some sort of fairer way to appoint new justices than having the Presidential administration choose nominees.

It's true that Congress must approve the President's nomination, and it's even true that one of George W.'s nominees was shot down immediately, when even Congressional Republicans doubted the legitimacy of the pick. But the fact remains that the President, and his administration, is in charge of selecting the nominees for a seat that someone may hold for many decades. A President, and his deeply partisan administration, which will serve for eight years at the most, can have a large influence on some of the most important decisions in the country for countless years after his Presidency is long over. This does not seem to be the best idea to me.

George W. was incredibly lucky to be able to appoint not just one, but two new Supreme Court justices during his Presidency (and all within the matter of a few months.) This is an unlikely occasion, and unfortunately for this country, it occurred during the Bush administration. Though Congress (currently a Republican-dominated Congress, I might add) needed to accept W.'s nominations, Bush was able to get two very conservative picks through onto the Supreme Court. And now, who knows what the lasting implications of this will really be.

It makes me shudder to think of what W.'s true legacy might be in the end. A second Vietnam war, yes. An astonishing trampling of the Bill of Rights, sure. But the power to extend his conservative views through the new Court he created, a Court which could now swing conservative for a terribly long amount of time? A Court which, ulitmately, has power over every other institution in the country? The reality of this is, hopefully, enough to make anyone objectively wonder whether ANY administration should really have that much power. But I won't hold my breath.