doctoral candidate in rhetoric and scientific and technical communication
justice reigns supreme
The future is blurry (as it always is). Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has resigned. Justice William Rehnquist has now passed away.
Where we had a somewhat moderate voice in the reigning court of the land, we now have upheaval and uncertainty. Will the rulings of the highest court now take a more conservative bent? Will they follow the lead of the Christian Coalitian? Will they project the feelings of a lame duck President or will cooler heads reign?
I think that the next few months in judicial confirmations will be interesting. I think that whomever is chosen to be the next justice could change the entire way this country works. Whomever is elevated to the Chief Justice’s position will be able to steer the court in a very deliberate path.
Am I worried? Definitely. In the last few years the Supreme Court has appointed a President, made rulings on illegal aliens (notably the Elian Gonzalez case), made rulings on the separation of Church and State (in favor of Church), and has ruled on various other cases that affect the citizens of the U.S. on a daily basis.
Will the Court take away my rights as a woman to govern my own body? Will more civil rights be restricted?
I hold out hope that I don’t have anything to fear; it is a thing strand of hope, though.
It is doubtful that our representatives will step up to the plate and fight a good fight.
I am worried.
I am worried too, and the news that Bush nominated John G. Roberts, Jr. for Chief Justice makes it even more scary. We don’t know much about him, but all the elements suggest that we may be in trouble. I am not american, so in principle I don’t have a say in all this. But I live here, and in any case what happens here has a lot of relevance for the rest of the world (as Iraqis have recently discovered), so it is a concern for everybody.