tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940841.post113329586956044524..comments2024-02-02T07:41:55.155-05:00Comments on The Headpiece for the Staff of Ra: An Alito PostMosBenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14396378353702882073noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940841.post-1133408665044645762005-11-30T22:44:00.000-05:002005-11-30T22:44:00.000-05:00Excellent post. Nicely sums up why and why not one...Excellent post. Nicely sums up why and why not one person or another should be a supreme court justice. While life experience and personal beliefs should not weigh on one individual's take in interpreting the constitution, they unfortunately do and when the person in question has a personal history of being involved in racist and sexist organizations -- that can easily spell doom for today's constitutional freedoms as we know them.<BR/><BR/>Additionally, I love the reference to Office Space in the post.Sorniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13057350597607764166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940841.post-1133405004148839332005-11-30T21:43:00.000-05:002005-11-30T21:43:00.000-05:00Check out this week's Tom the Dancing Bug, just po...Check out this week's <A HREF="http://www.salon.com/comics/boll/2005/12/01/boll/index1.html" REL="nofollow">Tom the Dancing Bug</A>, just posted on Salon.Noumenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02442204504120141558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940841.post-1133390389284276832005-11-30T17:39:00.000-05:002005-11-30T17:39:00.000-05:00On the other hand, at least one of the major roles...On the other hand, at least one of the major roles the Supreme Court is supposed to play in our system is protecting minorities (in whatever sense, not just women or black people or gay people or what have you) from the ignorance and indifference of the majority: the Supremes are supposed to be the check that prevents us from falling into mob rule, and this is why we have a republic rather than a democracy. Now, it appears a nominee to the Supreme Court had his membership in a certain group on his CV for a good chunk of his professional life; a group that was quite explicitly dedicated, at least in part, to keeping power away from the minority. This isn't a solid indication that this nominee thinks the same today, of course, but it is a piece of data that must not be neglected. <BR/><BR/>An ordinary jurist has relatively little room to maneouvre, and her job is, essentially, to simply apply precedent to the issue at hand. It seems to follow immediately that someone is a good jurist -- at this level -- if, and only if, they are knowledgable about precedent and offer sound legal arguments. <BR/><BR/>However, a justice on the Supreme Court has a much broader job. Yes, she will apply precedent to particular circumstances like an ordinary jurist; but, along with the representatives in Congress, the President, and of course her fellow justices, a Supreme Court justice is responsible for determining the ends and goals of the state. To the extent Alito's membership in this organization indicates he does not believes today that an end to discrimination based on ethnicity and gender are appropriate goals for the state to pursue, he will be unwilling, and thus unable, to fulfill at least some of his duties as a justice.Noumenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02442204504120141558noreply@blogger.com