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Too Special To Grasp The Ordinary

Dec 19, 2014
by Caroline Miller
Dahlia Lithwick, lack of diversity in the U. S. Supreme Court, Nine of a Kind, the dispassion of the Roberts' court
2 Comments

Despite the increased number of women on the Supreme Court and one black and one Latin jurist, there is a remarkable sameness in the backgrounds of the members.  So writes, Dahlia Lithwick in a recent essay. (“Nine of a Kind,” by Dahlia Ltihwick, New Republic, Nov/Dec 2014, pgs. 30-31)  71% of Obama’s nominees have practiced primarily in corporate or business settings and all of them attended Ivy League schools, namely Harvard or Yale.  There is not a single justice from the heartland. None has held elective office.  And, says Lithwick, the Court has become “worryingly cloistered.” ( (Ibid, pg 30)  Their sessions are neither televised nor broadcast and many judges’ speeches are not publicized, rendering their opinions removed from public review.

Lithwick worries that this insular environment, together with their homogenous life experiences, leaves the judges with blind spots. (Ibid pg. 31)   What seems to be valued in the Roberts’ Court are labyrinthian debates on points of arcane law rather than arguments based upon “moral truth” — the kind former Justice Sandra Day admired in the writings of Thurgood Marshall.  According to her, he often drew from his personal life and that conviction had the power to sway the Court’s decisions.  Unfortunately, when Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the  Latin member of the court, spoke with passion concerning affirmative action, Chief Justice Roberts chided her for “elevating ‘policy preference’ over rigorous doctrine.” (Ibid pg 31)

 Comments like Roberts’ lead Lithwick to ask if the Court, so polished academically, isn’t handicapped by its lack of street knowledge.  Do we have jurists who too readily identify with privilege rather than the common man? How else can one explain decisions that diminish voters’ rights while granting speech rights to corporations?

 Sadly, the Court seems to illustrate that being well-educated doesn’t necessarily produce wisdom.  Without being tested in the fires of ordinary existence, profundity can become irrelevant. 

 Having been a politician from the streets, I know it’s difficult to translate the needs of the poor to elected officials who were raised in gated communities.  I sometimes thought the rich and the poor actually spoke different languages.  But the laws that govern the land must speak for everyone.  To achieve that end, Lithwick may be right: members of the Supreme Court should come from diversified backgrounds. 

The United States Supreme Court

Courtesy of www.theliberaloc.com

 

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2 Comments
  1. Bill Whitlatch December 19, 2014 at 9:14 am Reply
    "I worked among the very, very poor, the migrant laborers, the Chicanos and the I.W.W's who I saw being shot at by the police. I saw cruelty and hardness, and my impulse was to be a force in other developments in the law.[7]" Justice William O Douglas
    • Caroline Miller December 19, 2014 at 10:29 am Reply
      A wonderful judge and a wonderful statement. Thanks for sharing, Bill.

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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