Astonishing though it may be, I have actually heard of students being made fun of for discussing recent events with regard to the Supreme Court, namely, the nomination of Judge Roberts.  While I cannot attest to witnessing this mockery myself, I’ve heard plenty of things through the grapevine. Mind-boggling, isn’t it? I mean, who isn’t concerned with the nominations, right?

          Well, as difficult as it may be to comprehend, there are young people out there (not at PCA, of course) who do not much care about the Supreme Court.  They say it’s just nine old people in black robes who sit in some fancy D.C. building and make trivial decisions—not exactly.

          For two centuries in American jurisprudence, judges have wielded the sword of judicial review: they can annul laws that they say violate the Constitution.  In theory, this power of judicial review could be beneficial by preventing Congress from passing unjust laws, but it is tainted by the judges who make decisions based upon their own beliefs instead of merely interpreting the Constitution.  The present state of the American judicial branch more resembles a tyranny of justices than the balanced three-branch system intended by the Founding Fathers.  Instead of following the Constitution, the supreme law of the land, judges read between the lines, make ridiculous inferences, and, when out of arguments, just point to other countries’ laws.  For instance, Supreme Court Justices in the infamous case of Roe v. Wade ruled that all state laws prohibiting abortion violated the opposed Constitutional right to privacy.  Is there a solution to prevent judges from allowing their own values to determine their rulings?  For now, we can only hope for better judges.

          Many conservatives are holding their breath hoping that the recently nominated and soon-to-be-confirmed Judge Roberts will fill the shoes of the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who interpreted the Constitution fairly and allowed the legislators to do their job.  We hope the same for whomever Bush nominates to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who retired a few months back.

          The decisions these judges make are not trivial; Supreme Court justices have the power to determine the laws we will live by.  It is they who decide whether or not living infants may be butchered within their mothers’ wombs, or if the elderly and the handicapped may be terminated.  It is they who will rule whether or not children may say the Pledge of Allegiance in school, or if the government may seize your property for the “good” of the community.

          So the next time your non-PCA friends are ignorantly mocking your insatiable thirst for more news on the nominations, you’ll know what to say. And perhaps the next time you hear the words “men in black,” John Roberts, rather than Will Smith, will come to mind.