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January 13, 2006
Times, they are a changin'
Hugh Hewitt explains why the failure of the Democrats to derail the Alito nomination has the left in a panic.
The four-square box below is NOT intended to represent accurately or even closely the real views of the justices. Rather, it does represent the left's beliefs about the beliefs of the justices.
Here's how the left understands the direction of the SCOTUS:
Theists Secularists Constitutional
MajoritariansScalia
Thomas
Roberts?
Alito?RehnquistO'ConnorElitist
Anti-MajoritariansKennedy Stevens
Souter
Breyer
Ginsburg
By "theist" I mean those who hold a belief in a God who is not indifferent to the actions of men and women. "Secularists," by contrast, believe that the existence of such a God is, at best, unknowable.
"Constitutional majoritarians" are believers in checks and balances and separation of powers and the federal system, but also subscribers to the view that majorities working through representative institutions must ultimately control the direction of the country, bound only by the Constitution's directives.
"Elitist countermajoritarians," by contrast, believe that no matter what popular opinion expressed through representative institutions may believe, that there are certain policy choices that must be imposed on the country, even if there is no clear constitutional backing for such a choice, and even if that choice has no history of legislative consent. In recent years, elite countermajoritarians have, for example, been committed to the aboliton of the death penalty and for the imposition of same sex marriage, but they have many other policy preferences as well.
Many of the left's opinion leaders are secular, elite countermajoritarians. Many more, while holding a sincere belief in God, are so committed to the idea of a public square empty of God that their political choices are indistinguishable from those of avowed secularists who reject the very idea of God.
I think Hewitt's right; there's big changes coming. It's telling that what so many Americans deem desirable -- the Supreme Court deferring to the will of the People expressed through the legislative process -- is simply repellent to a vocal minority. The left is panicked because, unable to enact its agenda through the democratic process, i.e., win elections, its only successes have come through the courts usurping the role of the legislatures.
Look, I can't stand politicians. But we elect 'em, and if we don't like what they're doing, we throw 'em the hell out. Judges? Who gave them the right to decide policy issues based upon what they think American society should look like? I think most Americans want the Supreme Court to have a far more limited role in imposing change on us.
Read the rest of Hewitt's essay for a complete explanation of the shifting composition of the Court.
Posted by Mike Lief at January 13, 2006 03:55 PM