Big talk these days about the Supreme Court of the United States. Apparently it has wings. Yes, news people say appointing justices to the Supreme Court depends on how they vote. As if all judging is rigged. Certainly a claim worth investigating.
How does your dentist vote—left or right? And what about your drycleaner or the lady at the bank? Liberals? Conservatives? And what if they sometimes switch? What if they say “it depends on who’s running.” Does any of this affect the way they do their duties?
“But supreme court justices are different. Politics weighs heavily on how they scrutinize law and interpret the constitution. People like them never change their mind.” Okay fine, so how about our Canadian judges. There are nine of them. Is it 5-4? 6-3? or 9-nothing? And which way do they swing because funny, I’ve never heard it mentioned.
“Oh, but in the US they have to worry about abortion. Very controversial issue. Very big deal. We don’t have that in Canada.” Are you kidding? Not only does Canada not have a law, the US has had one for almost 50 years. Legally speaking, they’re miles ahead of us on this issue. So in my opinion, this is all spoof. And the proof rests with Ruth.
Ruth Ginsberg
Apparently a democrat, Justice Ruth Ginsberg was born March 15, 1933. In 2013, with three years remaining in Obama’s last term, she was 80 years old. Now Ruth is no fool. She knew it’s typical for presidencies in the US to go 8 years democrat and then 8 years republican. So she knew there was a better than 50% chance the next president would be a republican. But at the ripe old age of 80, she decided not to retire.
Ruth worked for Obama until age 83 and is now 86. Maybe, just maybe, she knows it’s all a crock. And that’s my point. Judges take many years to develop and are of very high standing. I believe they take their positions seriously, just like my drycleaner and dentist.
Summary
In the end, many Canadians enjoy following US news. It’s entertaining. But down there they always have one foot in controversy just to keep the fans watching. And if you love this kind of stuff, great. But it’s never worth a fight.
Note: The Supreme Court of Canada employs a custom where most decisions are reported as unanimous.