Fearing American Style Supreme Court

It is interesting to read the article by Paul Belien of the Brussels Journal. The Alito hearings have peaked some interest overseas about the relationship between the high court and legislators.

Since ???Roe v Wade,??? the 1973 abortion ruling, America has ceased to be a democracy and has become an oligarchy of nine unelected old men (and women) dressed in robes. Though at times the judiciary may protect citizens against the usurpation of legislative powers by the executive branch of government or by unaccountable and unelected national or supranational bureaucracies, on the whole the judges??? eagerness for political power threatens freedom.

Certainly this is a feeling among conservatives and is somewhat shared by European’s who are ‘concerned’ about the European Court of Justice. One difference however, remains that EU still has no ratified constitution by which the court is itself limited.

That is the heart of the issue in America and is seen in the often ’slanderous’ atmosphere of the Alito hearings. The supreme authority for the government of this nation is the Constitution. It limits the powers of all branches of government and by its nature limits the scope of the court.

The people of course elect representatives who pass the laws. The representative powers are limited by the constitution. When they extend their reach the court ought to rule based on Constitution. It appears that the problem stems not from the nature of the court but that the court has forgotten the nature of the document they are supposedly under.

The basic philosophies are divided into two basic camps. The strict constructionists and those not in that camp. The strict constructionists are those who attempt to understand the intent and meaning of the original authors. It is only living and breathing meaning that it has meaning for today, not new meaning waiting to be discovered by each new generation of justices.

The court only becomes dangerous when it becomes an authority unto itself. Hence the conflict in the recent hearings. Often the liberal, socialists agenda’s can’t be forwarded by democratic means and only can be forced upon the governed through the oligarchy of justices no longer in touch with an external authority. An authority with its own meaning and which should hold each one to the purposes inscribed in the founding document.

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