Yesterday Associate Supreme Court Justice David Souter announced his intention to leave the court after it adjourns its current session in June. So for the second time in three days, it seems the political winds in Washington may be shifting to the left. After Senator Arlen Spector (D- PA) left the Republicans to become a Democrat, President Obama's task of getting a more progressive judge through the Supreme Court has become a little bit easier? Is this a good thing for the country?
As a progressive liberal myself, I was excited at first at the combination of Sen. Spector's move, Justice Souter's retirement, and the prospect that Democrats will have a filibuster-proof 60 seats in the Senate, once Al Franken cleans the scum off Norm Coleman's old seat. But the more I think about it, especially after what Justice Souter himself turned out to be to Republicans and conservatives, the more I think that Supreme Court vacancies should not be filled according to political needs or qualifications, but by people of strong will, character, and principle. The Supreme Court, while one of the three branches of our government, should stay divorced from the political winds of an issue and rule solely on how the Constitution reads.
At a White House reception, Pennsylvania's newest Democrat said that he would not be a "rubber stamp" or "automatic vote" for Congressional Democrats or the Obama Administration. And the next day, during a vote for Obama's 2010 fiscal budget, Spector voted Nay in opposition to Obama. A similar thing happened early in Souter's Supreme Court tenure when Planned Parenthood v. Casey came before the Court in 1992. Souter and other justices formed a coalition that reaffirmed the landmark Roe v. Wade decision and a woman' right to choose. Even though the move enraged conservatives around the country, it should not have surprised them. Souter was a long-time conservative in the sense that he valued individual's rights over almost any other. Souter may have been nominated by a president whose party over the years has become a lock-step, all or nothing party, but he has stayed an individual, at the expense of his reputation on the right side of the political spectrum. Arlen Spector left the Republican Party for the same reasons that Souter's legacy will be that of a "liberal" judge who was a traitor to the political party that put him there.
Our courts and our legislative bodies need some more strong-minded people like David Souter. Some more Souters!!!
Quill is dry.
