LETTER: Supreme Court hands Trump a nightmare
Supreme Court hands Trump a nightmare
What a nightmare this term of the United States Supreme Court has been for the president and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
They believed they had outsmarted Democrats when President Trump was able to eke out the placement of two staunch conservatives on the bench, that things would go smoothly and that the court would rule the way they wanted.
Not so fast!
In its latest in a series of liberal decisions, the court has struck down a law which sought to eviscerate abortion rights in the state of Louisiana.
The difference in this case and the preceding one, which protects for now the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) participants, was Chief Justice John Roberts, who cares about the court’s reputation and how it will be judged in the eyes of historians. He does not want the institution to be seen as yet another ferociously partisan branch of government, which is how many have come to view it.
When a lifetime appointment is made, those who chose the individual often find that their nominee does not see that president as a benefactor who must always be appeased lest one lose their position. Lifetime appointments tend to spawn the nomination of individuals who do what they think is right, letting the chips fall where they may. In this term, that has been a beneficial outcome for those who believe in equal justice, fairness, basic human decency, and a right to privacy.
Oren Spiegler
Peters Township