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The Politics of the U.S. Judicial System

It became more apparent during this Presidential Election that the United States doesn't have a true separation of powers as intended by the U.S. Constitution. Since the President (a political individual) nominates a Supreme Court Justice, and the Senate (a political body) approves the nomination, therefore the Supreme Court as a whole interpretes the law as what is "politically correct" at the time. Politics and jurisprudence in this country are intimately intertwined. The courts are increasingly being filled with judicial activists, appointed by politicians to advance the causes of special interest groups that put those politicians in power.

However, justice must be arrived at through a process of reasoning. It should be dispassionate and fair. That is why the symbol for justice is a blind-folded woman holding a balanced scale. When guided by reason, justice is consistent with morality rather than political correctness.

Although our judicial system is an imperfect one, we as citizens have to abide by its law as interpreted by its judicial system. Through out history, we have seen these examples, such as: Jesus who willingly submitted to death on the cross, Socrates who willingly submitted to death by poison, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King who willingly went to prison. These individuals accepted their unjust punishments out of love for humanity and respect for the rule of law.

Just as importantly, we as citizens need to be aware of self-serving political groups that attack the judicial system through a propaganda of misinformation and half-truth. For instance, the United States Supreme Court is accused of being partisan by not allowing a re-counting of votes. It is true that Gore won the popular vote, and perhaps the electoral vote as well in Florida. However, the United States Supreme Court's decision to stop the vote re-counting process in Florida was based on the equal protection doctrine of the U.S. Constitution. In fact, the "count all the votes" claim in Florida by the Democratic Party is misleading and self-serving. The Democratic Party only wanted to recount the votes in counties that they knew would vote Democratic. If they had insisted on a re-counting of all the votes in Florida, then it is very likely that Gore would be the next President.

Tuan Tran