If there is one lesson to learn regarding the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (and the subsequent reactions from elected officials), it's that we can finally end the absurd notion that the Supreme Court - and more broadly, the law - is "above politics".
I do a fair amount of thinking and observing; most times, the flow charting and decision trees proceed silently in my head, veiled from public scrutiny. I don’t claim to be even an amateur philosopher, and my musings are probably at best defined merely as Shower Thoughts.
But I have to say, amidst the lathering and shampooing of yesteryears (don’t worry, I still shower regularly), one thing that has always left me disillusioned was the concept that the law is a sacred, infallible, and incorruptible institution. And that to challenge this so-called sacred standing of the law would forever tarnish one a provocateur. Dare a law student ever say such a statement! Who knows, maybe they do have the same internal conflicts as I enumerated above, but you would never know by their actions once they get those initials and pass the bar exam.
I’ve always found it curious how two completely different legal opinions can be rendered using the same Constitution as the ultimate reference. If there’s any actual “jiggery pokery” going on, it involves using the same document to justify completely opposing legal opinions — yes or no on marriage equality, abortion rights, interracial marriage, campaign finance, ad infinitum. The harsh truth is that legal decisions have never been in the abstract, and as such, political persuasions have always had skin in the game. And as such, I have no qualms about wanting a fire-breathing liberal replacement for Justice Scalia.
It’s long been held that Lady Justice’s blindfold represents the objectivity of the law, ensuring faithful and equitable application. A second harsh truth is that Lady Justice has been on a sleeping binge that would make Rip Van Winkle jealous, her blindfold acting as sleeping mask, obscuring the reality that exists before her. Her scales of justice have long been tipped since our nation’s founding, from our Declaration of Independence (which held that “all men are created equal”, meanwhile the slavery business was booming) to present day, and countless examples in between.
Perhaps this latest episode of Republican intransigence will finally awaken the American people regarding this false notion of blind justice. The law has never been above politics, especially with regard to constitutional practice and policy making. To dismiss this truth insults the many people and groups that have been oppressed, disenfranchised, even killed by miscarriage of justice, oftentimes bolstered by the law itself.