It’s time we fix the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court should reflect the moral and ethical perspectives of the American People. After all, “We the People” is the basis of the Constitution.
Unfortunately, the current “conservative” block dominating the Supreme Court fancies itself as an historical juggernaut returning all interpretation to the supposed original meaning of the words of the Constitution and its framers. Apparently, they believe that they are not only capable historians but that they can also read the minds of long deceased 18th century politicians.
They believe this is the only way to interpret the Constitution. However, they cannot tell us why. They even have a name for this flimflam — originalism. The problem is that their often groundless decisions seem to originate nowhere but in their own minds. Perhaps, that’s what they really mean by “originalism”.
It used to be that conservatives cried that progressive justices were “legislating” from the bench. Now, conservative justices seem to be very comfortable doing the very same thing.
The Constitution was pretty straightforward about the Supreme Court: Presidents would regularly appoint Justices, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Nothing in the Constitution indicates how many, how often or for how long Justices would be appointed, only that the President does it, with the confirmation of the Senate.
There’s no clause in the Constitution about how the Constitution should be interpreted or on what basis decisions by the Supreme Court should be rendered, nor any indication that the Constitution itself was nothing more than a once and done document whose core principles should never extend beyond the limited understanding or perceptions of the framers. That’s originalism. Personally, I doubt the framers were that shortsighted.
In any case, that’s our situation. For whatever reason, the Supreme court has become partisan.
There is a fix. The Supreme Court should reflect that moral and ethical perspectives of the American People. Every President should be able to appoint two Supreme Court Justices — one every two years while in office and no more. The Senate can still advise and consent to those appointments, by simple majority.
This would mean the Supreme Court could not be “packed” with progressive or conservative justices, unless the American People were so inclined and elected a President and a Senate majority that felt the same way. The number of Justices could change, but that’s not actually a problem.
Congress can approve such a proposal. The President can sign it into law.
You can let your three representatives in Congress know that this is important to you by calling or emailing them. Do so, now. Do so often. They need to hear from us.
Let’s fix the Supreme Court.