Friday, October 04, 2002
New Jersey Update: Department of Great Minds
"The legal dispute [in New Jersey] that yesterday landed before the U.S. Supreme Court is eerily reminiscent of the presidential election controversy in Florida two years ago," Washington Post, "Bush v. Gore v. Torricelli," (October 4, 2002).
Even the Post is holding its nose on this one. The best they can say of the ruling is this: "But the court's action -- unanimously agreed to by judges of both parties -- is not obviously lawless."
I've been reading about the fall of the Roman Republic (Anthony Everitt, Cicero) this evening. "Not obviously lawless" applied then too. Those who think New Jersey Democrats have done well might profitably consider this bit of dialogue from "A Man For All Seasons":
Roper So now you'd give the Devil benefit of law!
More Yes. What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
Roper I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
More Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you - where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country's planted thick with laws from coast to coast - man's laws, not God's - and if you cut them down - and you're just the man to do it - d'you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake.
There are lots of law professors, exemplified by Lani Guinier (who nearly ruled over our nation's civil rights laws under Clinton), who believe that any objective standard is inherently suspect. These folks, along with the judicial activists who fill our nation's courts, are transforming the American legal system in dangerous ways. They have sown the wind. I fear we shall all reap the whirlwind.
|posted by Jim on 2:28 AM|
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