By Mildred Robertson
President Biden stands on the precipice of perhaps the most
daunting task of his administration. The nomination of the next Supreme Court
Justice. With the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, he will
have the opportunity to nominate a justice who will at least hold the status
quo in an extremely conservative court. Biden has compiled an impressive list
of highly qualified jurists to consider for the appointment. He has pledged to nominate an African American
female, and two North Carolina judges are on his shortlist.
Among those Biden is considering is North Carolina Supreme Court
Justice Anita Earls, an African-American civil rights
attorney and educator and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and Cheri Beasley,
former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. Beasley had
previously served on the North Carolina Court of Appeals and as a district
court judge in Cumberland County, NC. She is the presumptive nominee for
the 2022 U.S. Senate race in North Carolina.
Both of these jurists are highly qualified and
would provide a much-needed balance on a court that has been skewed hard
right thanks to Mitch McConnell’s manipulation of the Senate rules. Just this
past July the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a severe blow to the 1965 Voting
Rights Act as it ruled against the Democratic National Committee in the
Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee case. The court’s ruling diminished
the power of federal courts to protect U.S. citizens from voting rights
discrimination. It is one of the many decisions the court will address in the
near future that has far-reaching implications on the daily lives of American citizens.
So as President Joe Biden prepares to make his first, and
perhaps only, nomination to the court, his decision will influence this nation’s
jurisprudence for years to come. Supreme Court judges receive what can amount to
lifetime appointments; a constitutional design intended to ensure the Court's independence
from the President and Congress.
This nomination
should be a slam-dunk; at least if the Democratic Caucus can hold together all
fifty of its members, and Mitch McConnell doesn’t come up with some new
shenanigans. But even with a successful nomination, the court is currently
wildly slanted to the right. McConnell artfully blocked President Obama from
seating his Supreme Court pick, rammed through a Trump nominee accused of sexual
misconduct, and confirmed an ultra-conservative female just days before a
presidential election.
The next nominee to the Supreme Court is but one of the issues
this administration and this congress must face. The court plays a crucial role
in invalidating legislation or executive actions that conflict with the
Constitution. It is designed to ensure individual rights and maintain a Constitution
whose broad provisions are continually applied to complicated and new
situations. "EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW” are words written above the
main entrance to the Supreme Court Building. They express the ultimate
responsibility of the Supreme Court of the United States.
It seems, however, that the John Roberts Supreme Court has greater
allegiance to preserving partisan ideals than to upholding the provisions of the
constitution that validate our freedoms. The Court no longer appears to hold to the
concept of settled law and is forging its own conservative path on issues such
as abortion and voting rights. Instead, it now allows states to chip away at
the foundation of these long-held beliefs.
So as Biden contemplates his Supreme Court nominee, he must also
ponder whether it is time to look at the overall makeup of the court. He and congress
must determine whether additional seats must be added to the court in order to negate
its current partisan bent. It may be the only way for all Americans to receive equal
justice under the law from the highest court in the land.
No comments:
Post a Comment