There was a reason the U.S. Supreme Court was made to function with nine justices. Possible cases coming out of Wisconsin are a prime example.
Because of the death of former Justice Antonin Scalia, the highest court in the United States stands at eight justices. Four of them are liberal; four of them are conservative. So that means many decisions handed out by the Supreme Court could end up with split-decisions. That means the final ruling would be deferred to the court that ruled prior to the Supreme Court hearing it. For these cases coming from Wisconsin, that means a three judge panel could have the final say.
Bill would give lawmakers access to secret John Doe investigations
The cases coming from Wisconsin included redistricting, voter ID laws, the John Doe investigations of Gov. Scott Walker and abortion.
So, because Republicans in Congress refuse to hear or vote on President Barack Obama’s nominee to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court, these issues will be decided by a conservatively tilted panel. This means most of the cases would probably end up being ruled in favor of Republicans and their policies.
Now, someone who is liberal will argue that it’s unfair that the three person panel has two conservative judges on it, or that it’s unfair that Congress refuses to vote on Obama’s nominee. If liberals had their way, they would see a liberal majority court as fair.
But that would lead to conservatives to see the system as unfair, or as stacked against them. Liberals are trying to get the system stacked in their favor and conservatives are trying to keep it in their favor.
If Democrats were on the verge of losing their hold on the Supreme Court, they too would block a conservative nominee. In reality, both parties are just vying for more power and more say. This time, it just so happens to be Republicans with the power.
Someone is always trying to stack the system in their favor and we should be a little more understanding when people with opposing beliefs try to keep power, because you would do the same and the party you support is probably trying to do the same.
But that’s the beauty of the American system. When it works for your favor, it’s the best and when it works against your favor, it’s the worst. Never though, does it work only for you or against you. That is what we call fairness. That is America — shitty at times, amazingly shitty at other times.
Luke Schaetzel ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in political science and journalism.
