Supreme
Court Justice Clarence Thomas is outraged by Justice Samuel Alito’s
leak of the draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade. He decreed that
the court would not be “bullied.” He is worried that
respect for institutions is eroding. Damn straight it is!
This
justice knows about bullying since he was at the center of a judicial
firestorm in 1991. Anita Hill testified of his sexual bullying at
Thomas’ senate confirmation hearing. For me, the confirmation
of Thomas was a clear indication that the characters being confirmed
for the U.S. Supreme Court had little to do with ethics, justice and
upholding the law. The legitimacy of that court went downhill from
there.
The
anonymously leaked draft is seen by many lovers of the court as an
unprecedented breach of decorum. They’re more concerned about
the leak than the overturning of a woman’s constitutional right
to an abortion. For some, the leak went beyond a staff betrayal of
trust. @SCOTUSblog tweeted the leak was a “most unforgivable
sin.” I guess like a murder.
The
leak to overturn a constitutional right that has been in place for
fifty years was a vote of no-confidence. Someone or somebodies had no
faith that the court was going to do the right thing by women.
The
highest court in the land has not been setting a good example for
lower courts. Instead of standing on the principles of judicial
fairness and constitutional protection, the court has fallen into the
swamp of bias, political partisanship and abuse of power.
Last
year, a Gallop poll reported that the public has its own opinion of
the nation’s top opinion-makers. The court’s approval
ratings had dipped to 40 percent. The public sees the justices as
interested in mainly upholding their party’s ideological views
rather than being objective legal thinkers who uphold the most just
parts of law that will best serve a democracy.
The
public is not just disgusted with the courts. That disdain extends to
all other branches of government. Our distrust and contempt is
justifiable because of the regressive and reckless manner that
government has operated in contemporary times. There are little
checks and balances between the executive, judicial and legislative.
This also includes law enforcement right down to the street cop.
The
44th president did his fair share of dragging all the branches into
his swamp. The decorum of these branches has suffered seriously
because of their own undoing.There is also the depth of corruption in
the executive and legislative branches. We have seen our elected and
appointed officials carted off to jail for offenses from bribery to
child molestation to embezzlement.
It
is truer than ever that there is taxation without representation.
African Americans and other oppressed nationalities are forced to put
our fate in the hands of the government and other racist
institutions. There was a time when it was guaranteed that Black
folks would not get justice in this country regardless of the brutal
crimes against them. With the pretense of more diversity and more
laws, our lives are still at the mercy of the capitalist system.
The
high court will waste time trying to find the source of the leak when
it should be discussing the motivation behind the leak. The real
betrayal is at the government level - a government beholden to a
corporate elite. The real question is whether this nation will ever
be a government of the people, by the people. The answer is getting
clearer.
