Judging the Election

by Dan Jacoby

At today's pro-choice march in Washington, some of the speakers noted that if President Bush is elected to a second term, he could appoint a Supreme Court Justice (or two) who would overturn Roe v. Wade. But the abortion issue is only one of many issues facing the Supreme Court over the next decade on which the next presidential election will make all the difference.

If President Bush wins a second term, he will probably appoint people to replace Justices Stevens and Ginsburg, as well as Rehnquist and O'Connor. Those four appointees, plus Justice Thomas and new Chief Justice Scalia will give the far right six votes. These six justices will be young enough to serve for many years. And they will vote on numerous questions vital to our freedom.

School prayer is a contentious issue that won't go away. Our children will be forced, if not to recite prayers in school, at least to stand and be silent while prayers are said. In fact, the separation of church and state, long held inviolable by the Court, will almost certainly be violated in a number of ways. Federal funds will be made available to specially selected church groups for all sorts of activities, and the Court will find ways to rationalize it.

Racial segregation in housing, schools and jobs, already on the rebound, will certainly increase as well. The court has struck down many affirmative action programs in recent years, while upholding others. Look for Bush-nominated judges to dismantle affirmative action completely, and seriously weaken many civil rights laws.

Freedom to speak out against the government will be limited. We know the Bush administration would love to limit freedom of speech (remember former Press Secretary Ari Fleischer's "we have to watch what we say"). Furthermore, President Bush has already jailed indefinitely, and without a trial or even access to a lawyer, several American citizens simply by calling them "enemy combatants". This Court will probably rule the President's actions unconstitutional, but the next one could allow it.

The Miranda decision, the single greatest protection we have against coerced confessions, will be seriously diluted at least, and quite likely thrown away. Suspects will then be questioned for hours on end, without resort to a lawyer, and consequently with no protection against abuse at all. Our system is already proving to be seriously flawed; hundreds of people are being released from prison every year, their convictions overturned when new evidence proves their innocence. The new Court will allow the police to decide whom they want to convict, force a confession, then lock up the poor innocent and throw away the key.

The right to privacy, long held by only a slim majority of the Court, will be demolished. Government will be able to spy on us merely by paying lip service to the Fourth Amendment. Already, this Court has upheld the constitutionality of a band of secret judges issuing search warrants. Imagine if there is no check on this power.

And it won't just be the government spying on us. Businesses will create technology that enables them to learn all about our private lives. Radio frequency identification tags ("RFIDs") are about to come on the market. The Supreme Court will certainly be called on to define limits on their use. A right-wing (read: "pro-business") Court will certainly allow corporations a lot of latitude to gather and use this information.

The end result of a second Bush term will be a growing tyranny in America. It will not happen overnight; instead, it will creep up on us. The right wing will use the never-ending war on terror to extinguish our freedom step by step, and the Supreme Court will rubber-stamp their methodical dismantling of the Bill of Rights.

Even here, in "liberal" New York City, people were giving serious consideration to foregoing a mayoral election after 9/11. Many New Yorkers were willing to give up free elections in the wake of a terrorist attack. If a liberal city could consider giving up their freedom after just one attack, the rest of America will find it much easier to suspend the Constitution if the terrorists attack again.

The only solution is to stop this disaster before it stops. We must not give George W. Bush the opportunity. We must defeat him this November, by a margin so wide that he cannot steal the election.

A Bush-packed Court will mean a bushwhacked America.

 

Copyright 2004, Dan Jacoby

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