Posted by
John Caile on Thursday, April 15, 2010 11:14:41 AM
Good Riddance!
By Thomas
Sowell
When
Supreme Court Justices retire, there is usually some pious talk about
their "service," especially when it has been a long "service." But the
careers of all too many of these retiring jurists, including currently
retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, have been an enormous disservice to
this country.
Justice Stevens was on the High Court for 35 years-- more's the pity,
or the disgrace. Justice Stevens voted to sustain racial quotas,
created "rights" out of thin air for terrorists, and took away American
citizens' rights to their own homes in the infamous "Kelo" decision of 2005. The Constitution of the United States says that the government must
pay "just compensation" for seizing a citizen's private property for
"public use." In other words, if the government has to build a reservoir
or bridge, and your property is in the way, they can take that
property, provided that they pay you its value.
What has happened over the years, however, is that judges have eroded
this protection and expanded the government's power-- as they have in
other issues. This trend reached its logical extreme in the Supreme
Court case of Kelo v. City of New London. This case involved local
government officials seizing homes and businesses-- not for "public use"
as the Constitution specified, but to turn this private property over
to other private parties, to build more upscale facilities that would
bring in more tax revenues.
Justice John Paul Stevens wrote the Supreme Court opinion that
expanded the Constitution's authorization of seizing private property
for "public use" to seizing private property for a "public purpose." And
who would define what a "public purpose" is? Basically, those who were
doing the seizing. As Justice Stevens put it, the government
authorities' assessment of a proper "public purpose" was entitled to
"great respect" by the courts.
Let's go back to square one. Just who was this provision of the
Constitution supposed to restrict? Answer: government officials. And to
whom would Justice Stevens defer: government officials. Why would those
who wrote the Constitution waste good ink putting that protection in
there, if not to protect citizens from the very government officials to
whom Justice Stevens deferred?
John Paul Stevens is a classic example of what has been wrong with
too many Republicans' appointments to the Supreme Court. The biggest
argument in favor of nominating him was that he could be confirmed by
the Senate without a fight.
Democratic presidents appoint judges who will push their political
agenda from the federal bench, even if that requires stretching and
twisting the Constitution to reach their goals.
Republicans too often appoint judges whose confirmation will not
require a big fight with the Democrats. You can always avoid a fight by
surrendering, and a whole wing of the Republican party has long ago
mastered the art of preemptive surrender.
The net result has been a whole string of Republican Justices of the
Supreme Court carrying out the Democrats' agenda, in disregard of the
Constitution. John Paul Stevens has been just one.
There may have been some excuse for President Ford's picking such a
man, in order to avoid a fight, at a time when he was an unelected
President who came into office in the wake of Richard Nixon's
resignation in disgrace after Watergate, creating lasting damage to the
public's support of the Republicans.
But there was no such excuse for the elder President Bush to appoint
David Souter, much less for President Eisenhower, with back-to-back
landslide victories at the polls, to inflict William J. Brennan on the
country.
In light of these justices' records, and in view of how long justices
remain on the court, nominating such people was close to criminal
negligence.
If and when the Republicans return to power in Washington, we can
only hope that they remember what got them suddenly and unceremoniously
dumped out of power the last time. Basically, it was running as
Republicans and then governing as if they were Democrats, running up big
deficits, with lots of earmarks and interfering with the market.
But their most lasting damage to the country has been putting people
like John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court.