Stupid Supreme Court Decisions.....

Recently, the news has been all about the United States Supreme Court. But not about a court case or a decision. It has been about nominating and approving a new Justice to the Court. The process involves the President nominating a Justice, and  then being voted on and approved by the Senate.

The US Supreme court building.

The new Justice had a controversial process. He had a detractor that knew him from his college days. She said he sexually attacked her. He said he didn't. He was approved and today he is the newest Justice tot the United States Supreme Court.

On election days, I hate voting for judges myself. Since I am neither a criminal, nor a lawyer, I have no idea who these people are. It's crazy. Look, these's an Irish name. Hey, there's an Italian!

A Supreme Court Justice is a very unique job. Once approved, you serve for the rest of your life. There are no re-elections or term limits. You are beholden to no one. But the mistake is to think that these are some sort of wise or holy men and women. But over history that has been far from the truth.

It is true that all history must be viewed in the perspective of the times that they were made. As I said, I am not a lawyer, or a Constitutional scholar. But some Supreme court decisions just make you pause and shake your head. What were they thinking? How is that fair?

Here are a few Supreme Court decisions that I think fall into that category.

1846 Dred Scott vs. Sanford: Dred Scott, a slave living in the North, and his wife were released by their owner, They then wanted to move from Wisconsin to St. Louis, Missouri. But Missouri was a slave state. The court ruled that slaves were not citizens of the United States. Therefore they had no rights or protections under the Constitution.  That moved the nation closer to Civil War. Legal scholars consider this to be the worst decision by the Supreme Court. It was overturned by the 13th and 14th amendment.

1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson: This was sort of an old time Rosa Parks story. Homer Plessy, a man of 1/8 African descent, was sitting in a railroad car meant for whites, and was arrested. Plessy sued and lost. The Supreme Court established the rule of segregation, or separate but equal. Justice Billings Brown wrote, "If one race be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United Stated cannot put them on the same plane." The Jim Crow system was born. This was overturned by Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954.


1944 Korematsu vs. United States: This concerned the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066. That ordered all Japanese- Americans into what were concentration camps during World War II.  Not just Japanese, but Japanese-Americans. Their families could have been here for hundreds of years. It didn't matter if they owned  property, or a business. Off you go. Most lost everything. There were no reparations. In 2011 the Department of Justice announced the decision was reached in error.

Before you think this is all ancient history, consider this: In 2014 Justice Anton Scalia said, "the Supreme Court's Korematsu decision was wrong. but it could happen again in wartime." Scalia said he admired the dissenting opinion of Justice Jackson in the Korematsu case. He said, "It was nice to know that at least somebody on the Court realized that was wrong."

History is learned in order to recognize trouble signs in the present.